


Ceilings

by Moonpeach



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Also college/ coffee shops? Yeah that too, F/F, Gen, Kinda, M/M, Mentions of others-Freeform, Multi, Recreational Drug Use, Slow Burn, Some Fluff, Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt, basically another one of those roommate aus, but with three of them all coming together, getting over a lot issues and a lot of trust and a lot of everything in between, more things to tagged as the story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-07-28 18:29:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 38,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7652101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonpeach/pseuds/Moonpeach
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some people never truly leave you.</p><p> </p><p>[In which Keith leaves  for five years without a call or a text,Lance stays angry, and Hunk just wants things to work out okay. ]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Side Note

Sneakers skirt across the flat of a mat outside of a caesious house. Keys pushing in to the door where a body follows, Lance has never felt so tired. His mouth mourns for a drink, whatever kind they’ve got in the house.

His hands tire for a seat and a bed and maybe two or four hours of sleep to erect the fatigue outside his expression. Dim eyes search the house's lean hallway, a light to the kitchen brings his senses anew when the door closes and he pulls off the left and right of his shoes. 

The bag is dropped in hand off by the stairway, wet and probably too drenched from the downpour outside but at the moment he’s not trying to worry about whether his papers are a mess or whether the ink has run off the wrinkled pages. 

It’s a beeline for the kitchen, for the fridge, because that’s the first thing on his mind. The first thing he takes care of before anything else. 

Work doesn’t give up much over a break, it’s nice at all how often he gets them, even if he has to asked on several accounts. But all in all they aren’t too bad for a small snack. Never enough for a meal or a proper lunch, but he tries. 

An apple looks to be the only thing appetizing to eat when Hunk comes in, stretching and yawning with a t-shirt hanging loose off his shoulders. Lance almost doesn’t see him when he twirls around, nearly dropping the fruit but catching fingers cease the accident. 

“ Shit, almost scared me there…” 

Hunk doesn’t respond, just simply makes a noise akin to what Lance believes is a chuckle, but he can’t be sure. Leaning back with hands sitting over the edge of the counter. 

“ M’sorry bro, just kind of woke up.. haven’t really taken a nap in quite some time. Like maybe not even but two hours..? But heck, I wasn’t really making sure.”

Lance snorts, taking a big bite out of his apple, the clock sits about a foot away, green digital lights blink the image 8:26. 

“ You get any work done today?”  
He asks, while Hunk decides over whether an early night snack is really worth the trouble of preparing when he’s only still just as tired from waking up. His hand scouring the cabinets, searching through boxes of unopened cereal and cans of various foods they haven’t touched in over a while.

Lance makes a onesided note in his head to get around cleaning that old storage, it’s been getting messy and possibly some of those cans are probably older than a month’s age. 

“ Mm yeah I did, we had a few discussions over at the campus today. We went into the topic of interstellar medium, and fluid dynamics. Which by the way is pretty interesting stuff. It’s bounded around the actions of supernova explosions, radiational fields, and time dependent gravitational fields that work with spiral density waves in stellar discs.”

He continues, when he spies a cereal worth his time, pulling it out from under the stack.

"We spent practically the whole hour and a half talking about it. You should’ve seen it. Well..you probably couldn't have, but the whole of like the equations behind it are actually pretty neat. Plus the idea of space having a dynamically well built magnetic field which are governed by compressed magnetohydrodynamics.”

The enthusiasm in their voice puts a soft smile on Lance’s face, however much he can’t digest the whole of that answer down at the moment, nodding. A bit of apple stuck to the tongue. 

“ mm, m’sounds cool..”

There’s a noise of footing leaving the cabinets aside, Lance spies the title of Fruit Loops from across the table as Hunk scoots over to the drawers, taking out a small bowl. He eyes Lance a look before grabbing the spoon, lance gets the hint and grabs the milk out of the fridge. A courtesy for Hunk which he thanks Lance on with a mumble.

They don’t say much, and Lance can hope that he won’t have to say too much of anything at all. Considering today was utter shit and he’d rather sleep off the tension than to say anything about it. Hunk must have caught on or rather he isn’t saying anything yet. The apple has shape shifted into a skinny core, feeling the peels of seeds pressing against his fingers when he’s done looking out at the floor; kicking dust. 

Another sidenote, sweep up this place. 

“ I had a.. okay day, maybe not as extravagant as my last few days have been. Because I’ve been trying to keep a straight face while working under such restraining hours but. I’m managing and I’m getting better, and I think I might be getting promoted up sometime soon….” 

At the last of it, he looks up, hoping that would catch their attention, he knows that good news paints a picture across Hunk’s face, happy and loose. Expectance is rewarded with the look he anticipated out of them. Hunk is looking up from stirring his milk in with a spoon, quiet brows knitted up.

“ Really? Like how okay?”

“ Like, it was okay-okay, you get me..?”

“ Yeah I get you, but like on a scale of one to hell no, just how okay was it?  
Was it one okay, two okay, or completely abysmal to the point ooof.. you wanting to quit?”

The leads out a scoff, his chest heaves with a hand of exaggeration coming over himself in pure humorous shock. 

“ Wha- Hunk come on, It wasn’t THAT bad! I promise you it was just one mishap, not like it was someting too extreme and like the earth cracked open below me because of that one thing happening out of sight. I’m a lot more perdurable than you think."

Really it was’t anything too bad, he’d exaggerate it just for show. But beyond that it’s just average job complaints, his fellow employees take bigger hits than he does just on a good day, and that’s if he’s in the mood for it. Hell even Pidge is a victim for the angry screaming patrons that don’t have a decent bone in their bodies to not start a scene in the shop. But he doesn’t have to tell Hunk that. 

Hunk simply shrugs, “ Hey it was a fair guess. you don’t really go into details about what goes on at work, so I just assumed “Okay” meant codeword for “ not really okay.” in my defense.”

Lance doesn’t insist to disagree and simply walks his way to the trash bin to drop the apple core off, reaching the sink to wash his hands. His eyes feel a little droopy, it’s close to the hour of when he usually sleeps, but he rubs at them impatiently, blinking twice. 

 

It’s later when he and Hunk head upstairs, his bag a soggy mess, and he comforts himself with a showers and a fresh pair of clothes. His body lingers in the bathroom for a while, taking care of his face, and his teeth and his hair. The same way Hunk does his with a soft ponytail atop his hair. Except Lance’s isn’t as long and all he can do is clip it; walking out before taking a pill and heading to bed. 

These soft sheets are overwhelming, he can drown out the unease with relief. Watching Hunk’s fingers dabbled over a brightened screen, possibly texting Pidge or Shay, or whomever is awake at this hour because he’s pretty sure they should all be asleep if work or school is the option waiting ahead. 

It’s another hour of drowsy nature, the skimming of Hunk’s fingers running laps over his skin, and the push of his head falling flat to a pillow. He thinks about studying the clock, count how many hours are left before morning, even if it’s not that far away. The sheets feel hot above the weight. 

Another Sidenote: remind himself to get rid of the bigger blankets. 

 

—————————————————————---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“ We gotta get a new roommate..”

Lance half hears it over the sizzle of food and grease. A cup of coffee sits pretty with one hand, mouth stinging from the bittersweet edge of caffeine.

“ What?”

Hunk is working with his hands; those talents in fingers that have rubbed and stirred and meshed up the balance of this home with a fury of passionate clarity cracked yet another egg over the harsh array of a noisy skillet. Tongue humming a wordless tune as Lance watches on.

“ I mean we should invest in getting ourselves a new roommate. You know someone who could help us out here?”

It sounds more and more like a question, like he’s waiting for Lance to crack; crack him open and scrutinize the meaning behind it. A simple look is given Lance’s way. 

“ By that I mean like someone who can help out with us beneficially…”

He’s unsure of what to make of that , twirling a piece of bacon between his fingers before he takes a bite, chewy and almost too crunchy for his tastes. In terms of "beneficially", they probably mean someone who can help out with the load of bills that come by, or maybe it’s for the social intervention; The concept that the two persons in this house aren’t enough company for just each other, and another must or can be added to strengthen that effect. Lance is not really sure which one of those options is more or less banal. 

His brows knit together in deliberate inquiry, mulling it over. 

“ I don’t think I quite follow, we seems to be doing just fine on our own. Adding in some other chump seems kinda unnecessary….” He inputs it with another sip, the coffee no less bitter than it was before; lukewarm. 

“ Plus, Three’s kinda a crowd…”

Hunk doesn’t seem to respond to that. he’s busy with his omelet, something concocted with herbs and pork and a sauce his mom had given him as a gift from home some long time ago sprayed along the top. He puts it on his plate, Lance can get a whiff of it from here, it looks and smells wonderful. 

“ You think? I always thought a little extra help would get us more organized around here. You know like, keep things clean, keep up for friendly opportunities, annnd it could give us a new friend to hang out with. That’s something we could always have more of right?”

There’s a hopeful smile in him, a glint in Hunk’s eyes when he sits down and takes his first bite, savoring the taste. Lance gives him a look.

“ Hunk, we’ve already got friends, you know like Pidge and Allura,and Shay? They’re close with us, and we don’t even need them to get by on our own. They have their own things to worry about, their own lifestyle… and so do we. Might I add our lifestyle is pretty fucking great, why change that?”

He can tell from the furrowed brows of his friend that that was probably not what they wanted to hear, frowning slightly with an expression unreadable, it makes Lance wants to reiterate that line of words somehow.

“ Yeah but I don’t know, I just think that with what’s been going on lately, another newer friend would add a little more nice balance around here.  
I mean don’t get me wrong, I agree, we do already have friends, and they’re all pretty great- I won’t deny that! Pidge is great, Allura is downright wonderful, and don’t even get me started on how amazing Shay is. I honestly wouldn’t mind her moving in here at all, infact it would probably be like the best thing thing ever, and we could do so much together. Like watch movies, and go out on the boardwalk, chill out, teach each other some home cooking —

“ Hunk, you’re rambling…”

“ Sorry, I know, but still I still think we should give it a shot. Like at the very least a 50% shot at it. “

The fork is tapped against the side of his plate, Lance doesn’t know what to make of the option at hand. For one it does sound to be a little promising, in theory it’s possible. This place gets left behind to dust and grime and dirt, they only have so much going on what with school and work tethering them down. A third companion could essentially make this place better in cleanliness. But that all depends on the person, and who is more likely to clean up after themselves better than others. Or in this case better than Hunk, to paint the scenario fitfully. 

Financially, it was definitely possible that things around here could be easier to pay. While he and hunk made enough to get by through the week and it’s end. There’s only so much they can push aside for essential things, let alone the rent. Another person moving in could fill the slot, provided that they had a well paying job themselves and could split that up between the three of them together with a saved lot at the end… yes in theory it is plausible. 

However in plot, the thoughts don’t sit well with Lance all that much. Believe it on him to think they can handle roaming off each other's split pay just enough without worry of coming up short. 

They’ve made it this far, so the concept in itself hasn’t seeded as brilliantly as anything he’s had to worry about in the past. Shortage for food and supplies sure, a few missed days overdue okay so that’s happens. But the fact of the matter is they managed to cuff up enough in time to avoid any strikes. It’s not always enough for much else, but what more can they do? 

Lance has a full time job plus online classes, and Hunk has full time studies. They both go back and forth between the two almost everyday, exhausted by the end but happy with their results. It’s what the wonderful world of college and being away from home has to offer for kids like them, and Lance can’t say that he doesn’t dislike it. Not so much as he hates the homesick feelings.

A fifty percent chance of giving it a shot.. just that much?

“ Okay.. I’ll bite this time, but if we’re getting ourselves a new roommate, they have to be well certified, meaning whatever it is that we desire out of a new and hopefully cool roomie that doesn’t give us problems.”

 

Hunk lights up, settling down his fork to recede from the table. He runs and comes back with paper and pen in hand, enthusiastically scribbling something down in fast rates. Possibly all the qualifications for what this house could want. Lance gets up, puts his plate away in the dishwasher and hurries on upstairs to get his laptop and bag, leaving Hunk alone to his ad; it’s gonna be a very busy day.

 

—————————————————————---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance inputs the basics of what they want.

\--someone with a job if possible-  
\--someone to keep their share of the household clean  
\--Someone looking for a place to live; two roommates opened with having one more plus food, a bed , and the added bonus of a budding friendship.

It’s simple and just three things. Hunk insists there should be more to input, but Lance can’t think on what else could it be other than something silly like be “rich” (optional) or be "cool” or something along those lines as his mind trails off. He’s making his way to the shop, in time to put his uniform on in the bathroom, in time to miss a scolding glance of his boss around the way as he reaches the bar ready to serve up the day’s end of coffee orders.

Pidge catches him almost snoozing on break, albeit it was an accident, last night wasn’t so much a great time for sleep. Lance feels a little embarrassed for getting caught falling a little ways behind but Pidge understands, sitting with him until their break ends and they leave together back to their station till the shift ends. 

At the end of it all, they talk about a lot of things, Pidge is getting ready to set out for a school she had in mind for a while now. She’s as excited about it and nervous as the twiddling fingers in her lap keep coming back together in habit. 

Worried that she’s gonna fuck things up before she can even get in. It’s a light hearted joke, and Lance laughs with her, telling her about the situation he’s in, and how they’re setting up for a new comer to come around soon. That surprises Pidge, asking what brought it on and carrying out with telling Lance about the risks of adding a background check on the ones who do make the cut if any take the offer at all. 

He says he hadn’t thought about that before, which rocks him uneasy. Maybe that should be something they should do before they let anyone in. He heeds the advice, stomach doing a flip when they get ready to part ways and leave. Hello precaution, so sorry paranoia….

 

When he makes it home, Hunk is talking to someone on the phone, it's revealed to be Shay, who Hunk hasn’t heard much from in ages, save for texting each other across large distances. Their friendship as a whole, whatever closeness that they have reminds Lance of someone he used to have around before the college life and adulthood rolled in. There’s a familiar not so yet familiar face running across his mind when his bag drops and he hits the showers. 

Skipping dinner because he’s not really feeling the atmosphere so much as he is wishing he could drown in it. Things have changed a lot over the years, he’s moved away and moved in with a friend, someone he’s grown attached to, and yet he’s still feeling like his lungs collapsed, unable to breathe. Maybe it’s just the shit days at work or that he can’t help but watch the clock tick away at night before he sleeps. It could just be that he’s missing family, and being away from home and familiar faces can do a lot to someone not quite used to it all just yet. 

It could just be something else but who really knows. 

Whatever. it doesn’t matter, he won’t dwindle on it, and it’s another night of cuddling up to Hunk, another night of staring at clocks, another night of popping the lid off for a capsule before Lance truly rests. Hunk is skimming fingers over his shoulders again, and Lance relaxes just as he always did right before closing his eyes and pushing forward into his pillow. 

 

The clocks reads 12:34. Side note: Conduct some background checks later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith comes around next chapter
> 
> I weep for my hands as I type this.


	2. Something Good

Keith has had worst days, 

They aren’t as abysmal as the several weeks before he had left the east coast for a month of preparation back home. Days spent making calls and getting his things all together; he remembers Shiro telling him to take things slow, don’t go so fast. 

You’ll lose stuff or get lost, and if you stay up too late, you’ll miss the bus and then the plane. Traveling back after a couple of years for transfer is not as easy as they make it sound. 

There’s a lot of hefty lifting, a lot of baggage, a lot of precautions to take; he’s heard it almost throughout the entire week he was boarded to leave. 

Suspended within the belief that things could shape up for the better at this school he has written in a brochure in his lap. In hindsight, he didn’t really want to leave. The east coast, while dreary and more bustling with esteemed activities the ways he doesn’t see it at home, are exceedingly more assertive than what he had thought and a lot more fun in terms of where he was living.

For the past five years, living under a roof in a city with lights and cars and people surrounding every which way of every corner sparks a mark over his interests and personality. A few years of living under a house with Shiro is calming, adds balance and a pinning of other things he hasn’t yet claimed a name to. 

He liked it there, things were much more funner than what he had going on at home. If anything at all he wishes his whole life could’ve happened here, somewhere where there’s always a scene, always a place to explore. Always an interest to be sought out like how he wished he had it home. 

Back there it's barren. Where else the city’s a brewing endless crowd.  
Back there he has no one. Where else he has someone. 

And now he’s given it thought and made a choice to take the initiative and head home for a start at a school he managed to get in. There were other choices, unique options at his expense, one or two schools that had baited an introduction at his mail box a couple of times, but nothing stood out more than the Red Valley Academy. A particular school he had invested in way before he moved coasts.

An institute built for aviation science and aeronautics. He couldn’t have shown a better smile about it. Telling Shiro the news, they seemed just as thrilled that he entered, patting them on the back and giving a soft congraduations. 

 

The talk about it later had dissolved into whether he wanted to leave for it early or not, School doesn’t start for another month, but if he wants to get situated, he should probably devise a plan to head back there find somewhere to go. Somewhere that’s closer to campus and not at home. Shiro added as much advise as he could, provided in asking if Keith was really ready to take this step.

He’s mulled it over a couple of times, almost didn’t for the sake of realizing he probably had nothing else to really come home to, and instead left his bags by the door. A constant reminder of will he and won’t he until finally Shiro answers the question for Keith himself.

Keith pretends for a week that he’s not ready, and maybe it is because he’s really not and he’s waiting for that reassurance to come by and knock himself up side the head out of general indecisiveness. 

Shiro goes to law school, happily learning, stressfully busy. Understanding Keith’s uncertain dilemma, they have a talk; short and brief and full of incentives. He says he’ll take action on it the next weekend when they have enough time to pack away the essentials.

He doesn’t want to leave Shiro behind, doesn’t wanna go off too fast, but a call for something new begs him tirelessly so he takes it. swearing on it that they’ll call each other sometime after his plane lands, Shiro upholds to that, with a smile and then they part. 

Coming home should be refreshing, you make it there, and it’s all the same as it was before, nothing’s changed. Nostalgia paints pictures of buildings grown older, neighborhoods and parks alike haven’t shed a mark of new in ages and he thinks of sad things, and small things, and whether or not the paper of acceptance in his lap is really worth the trip coming. 

 

Shaky legs collect at the base of a street, mom and pop shops and cars trudge to and from either side of the roads but it’s not the same as it was in New York. The streets here are not as busy. He takes a bus, the only transportation he has so far before his bike gets transferred over. Making it to the campus on time for introductions and hellos. 

It’s nice, he’ll admit, he expected worst and expects certain things to be amiss to make it so he at least has something else to complain about besides the unchanging town and it’s odd fixation with regularity. But it’s fine, this is fine. 

But then he comes to realize that the campus doesn’t hold dorms, that housing is loosely based around the area; confounded in a general space about a lakeside view and a boardwalk. It’s not even seven at night before this information even runs a check in his head, new objective: find an apartment.

It’s gonna be a long while of checking through things, housing and apartment searches tend to be an incessant amount of time consumption, he might be out forever. But it’s late and he has the money for a one stop rest at a motel just down the block. 

For later he’ll share talks with Shiro over the phone, they seem sleepy yet so pleased to hear the news of Keith’s safe way home.

The conversation’s felicitous, scattered thoughts removed the nerves coming off of him over the day’s passing and how the world here doesn’t seem to have changed at all.

They talk until the clock is blinking 7:00, that’s right about the time Shiro is mourning off with a sleepy goodbye and a preach of good luck. 

Keith simply puts the phone on the charger and lays back to the bed with a gaze to the wall. Till tomorrow maybe, he hoping something good happens. 

 

—————————————————————---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today for Keith seems different.  
When he gets around to seeing the campus again, he’s mostly running around with a schedule in hand overlooking every and each detail. 

Classes here and there, up the stairs and down by the Library. This place is spacious and huge and he doesn’t even know where it ends and where it begins. Too caught up in the whereabouts of where everything is. 

He ends up near a cafe, with a window side view of a neighboring lake overlooking several shaded clouds surrounding a looming sun. 

Thank god it’s not so hot outside, otherwise he would have cursed himself for wearing long sleeves on such a not so humid day. Entering the shop greets him with a new cooling air, the smells of caffeine and oven lit sweets; ideal with a thump of a cruising beat off to the side of a juke box he can spot somewhere near the end of lane of seats and tables.

The place seems busy for just an afternoon, but he tries not to get into anyone’s way, maneuvering through of group of five students who’ve just ordered getting ready to leave. 

He makes way for the person at the cashier, a short haired employee who looks just as tired as he was riding the bus on the way here. 

At first glance, they don’t seem to be in a mood for any conversation, possibly due from how bustling this place is and how daily or not it ever gets to be this crowded.

But he doesn’t offer the comment the chance of making its way out, placing a close fist over his mouth to cover a prefaced cough. 

“ Um.. hi?" he starts, overlooking the menu ahead; his voice steady. There’s a lot to choose; too many choices. The cashier looks up.

“ Hi, and welcome, what can I do you for?” 

It takes him over a minute just to sort out the types, he’s drunk nothing but black in his time and for sure there has to be something more simpler than a "Macchiato” or something known as a "Café Noisette”.

“ Uh just…black coffee?” It's phrased so awkwardly, he resents making it seems like such an unsure choice.  
She writes it down on a small pad. “ Coffee, just black. Nothing else? No sugar or anything added?”

Keith shakes his head, “no, nothing else..”

“Cool, it’ll be out in a minute. You can hang tight by the wall over there, we’ll get it out in a jiffy.” She points and his eyes follow to the short end of a wall with a table next to it. He nods and handles himself over by the side.

There’s not much to do in waiting, except for checking over his phone, in search of new messages from Shiro. Eventually leading his eyes to pad up the surface of the wall’s extended note gallery full of signs and ads and other things marked in activity for campus grounds. 

A place like this probably has a lot of opportunities to seek out, he should consider getting a job. A little note for the self. As his eyes scroll it over, something catches them on the instant he meets the shade of yellow paper cross his path. At first glance it didn't seem like something that should have been up there. Out of place the information serves to him a source of interest. 

Looking for a roommate!  
_To live with us w/ benefits and a room open for free!_  
_Would be interested in:_  
_\--someone with a job if possible-_  
_\--someone to keep their share of the household clean_  
_\--Someone looking for a place to live; two roommates opened with having one more plus food, a bed , and the added bonus of a budding friendship_  
_Sounds like you? Then give this number here a call and we’ll take off from there.  
_(520)- 846-2367.__

Keith stares, reading over every word a couple of times, eventually a hand grabs at the paper’s edges. Pulling it off, and holding it against the tips. A roommate huh? It sounds promising and given the state of his current situation seems in theory to be a good idea. He makes it a note to store that number somewhere, possibly figuring out a time to give it a call once he's finished getting all his other things taken care of and--

“Hey! Your coffee's ready!”  
Visually jumping, the paper slips out from his hands. Seeing the same cashier by the side of the counter with a hot drink. She seems to give him a look, one that's questioning his current situation but he bests on a careful smile and a nod to sway anything else. 

“Uh, right yeah..” Composure and all follows after he crosses over, picks up his paper before taking the coffee in hand. Thanking her with a nod.

She seems intrigued, a watching him with earnest interest. “You look new here, this your first time around the campus or do you just not frequent this place much?” 

Keith only takes a sip, blinking once after the bitter taste lingers on his tongue. “No I'm actually not from around here. This is my first time..” 

“I can tell, I don’t think i’ve ever seen you before. I mean not that I would have noticed. A lot of people come by all the time so remembering faces can be a little hard sometimes. “ she tilts her head, an eye goes for the paper in his hand. “You looking for a place to stay?” 

That catches him off guard, seemingly halfway another sip of his coffee before gulping down whatever was left in his mouth. The stocky cashier, gleams a smile behind her glasses. “ I.. H-how do you know that?”

“Because of that little yellow paper you've got there. “ she points. “ I know all about that thing, it was put out recently by a friend of mine. I actually know who’s offering it so when I saw you grab it I assumed you were looking.”

Oh, well that made a lot more sense than what he had in mind, his eyes overlooking the paper again. “ Yeah I actually am. I just got here so, I'm still unpacking. But finding a place around here that's the quickest to school and not so far is a little hard when the campus doesn't offer much. “ 

“ I hear you. She nods her head in agreement, leaning off her hands from the counter side. “ Yeah the schools around here however much they have to offer in terms of curriculum and activities, lacks itself abundantly in the actual apartment living part. I had to spend like a week and a half looking for one myself for a while. But just managing that is only just the beginning.”

“So I hear…” The coffee is only halfway downed; already feeling the effects of the afternoon’s steady withdrawal pour over. Sometime soon he’s gotta get going, the next bus will be gone in over a hour. 

“ So you know the person who made this? Are they friendly?” 

She shoots a nod, “Yeah they’re super friendly. Well one is on a good day and sometimes when he's not been through too much shit from work or school . But the other one is definitely friendly. Sweet guy, real cool, goes by the name of Hunk.”

“Hunk..?” An odd name; one he's never heard of before, but he figures he can't judge considering he's only just learned the name. “And he’ll be okay with me wanting to take the offer?” 

“Sure! Yeah he’d be alright with it. I mean they are technically looking for one more person to come live with them, you can give them a call if it's up your alley. They don’t live too far from here so it's in school range.” She continues, listing with fingers. 

“They’re pretty clean from what I know, and are probably the best choice for roommates I would ever want to live with. From honest opinion and experience, they’re your best bet for finding a good place to crash.” 

Keith quirks a brow at that, mulling it over on his head. He's not so sure he should be taking so much in from a stranger. But they seem nice enough; at least in the action of telling him more about this apartment offering than he could from just the information listed alone and a lonely phone number. 

Whatever the matters are over his feelings, he takes it; nodding a couple of times before looking back to then, a better smile marks his lips. 

“Yeah alright, I’ll take your word for it. I’ll give this uh.. Hunk a call sometime later. Thanks..” 

She waves it off with a hand, imitating the smile. “ it's no worries. I'm always happy to help out new students in need of places to go. Doesn't happen a lot but I still try.” 

There’s a laugh somewhere, under his breath; packing away the paper away into his satchel. The coffee a coolant of lukewarm in his palm when he takes that next sip and gets ready to leave. The cashier does the same but not before telling him outright with a wink. 

“Oh and when you get around to calling, tell them Pidge gave you a little incentive.” 

 

—————————————————————---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Lance makes it home about 8:35 at night. The slam of the door is all that marks his entrance in with a lift up of his bags hitting the floor after when he steps inside. 

Hunk is humming a tune in the kitchen. The various smells of home cooking makes the room swell with a mist of vegetables, meat and rice from the chirp of the rice cooker off to the side. 

Lance has never felt more at home than now, almost falling short of entering the kitchen at the aroma and clenching his chest. 

“Oh honey, I'm home!”  
Hands gather around the shape of Hunk, tired but trying with enthusiasm to capture a little bit of love and jokey nature to environ the tenor of the mood. Hunk laughs.

“Hey Lance. Nice to see you.” 

They hang there for a while, till Lance lingers off and takes his things upstairs to settle down for the night. Hunk has their plates ready by the time he’s back downstairs; pajama worn and ready for something to sink his teeth in. 

“I take it you had a good day?” Hunk asks over the table of food, he's got a large spoon in hand , scooping out the load of vegetables in the middle to the space of his plate. Lance follows after, taking minimum amount as he possibly can. 

“Yeah you can say that, if by good you mean me totally aceing the hell out of that test I had today before going off and celebrating with a coffee and an early out shift then yes you could totally say that.” Responding so proud, it's rewarded with a scoop of curry. Hitting tastebuds like fireworks; leave it to Hunk to make anything ever taste so good.

“I mean at first I didn't think I'd pass cause I didn't really study all that much last night, but you were aware of that already. So when I took it ,it was just sheer luck and memory that did it all. And somehow I managed to get an A like one hundred percent, how fucking wild is that?” 

“An “A” huh?”  
“Well technically an A- but it's an A regardless. s’all that matters…” 

Hunk simply chuckles, taking another bite. “Well that’s good to hear. It's nice to know all that time memorizing hasn't been for a waste. I almost thought you might've flunked that one though.”

“Pssh, what me? Flunked that easy test! Please I could do that in my sleep. It was that simple!”

“Simple enough for a A-..?” 

“That's besides the point okay? I still got an A and that's all that matters.” Lance ends it there, enthusiastically chewing up his piece of meat. “Like I said before you should learn to have some more faith in me sometimes. 

“I believe it bro, don’t worry.” Hunk replies. “ Proud to see you're doing so well, even after that first bad week. I had an okay day too. Had a nice chat with Allura… Oh and we got a call today for the roommate thing!” 

“We did..? “ Catching Lance’s attention, the fork is dropped to the side. “Someone actually called? But it's been like two days.” 

“Actually it's been more like a week and a half but sure on the same length it does kinda go by fast. They should be coming around sometime tomorrow. So we can all meet them then.”

“Oh”. He's surprised, kinda. By the way it's announced, getting up from the table to collect his dish. In hindsight, he almost expected nothing to from this. At least not so fast, but digresses isn't going to help him clear his mind either, so he presses past it. 

They finished dinner relatively early, as early as it can get for night, taking a shower and hitting the bed before Hunk can even protest on the dysfunction of the kitchen. 

They have a lot of time tomorrow for cleaning, a lot of time to think, and resolve on. Plus an arrival in their midst. It's nothing Lance can’t handle and he's sure that it'll be fine. 

Regardless of how much his gut tells him it won't. So for some other reason other than the clocks tick, and the waves of arms reaching out at him for comfort, Lance sits in a bed of doubt. Wearily wandering through the ends of his thoughts on the matter of their newest addition. 

That side note left aside should be handy; background checks, he didn’t forget. 

At least he hopes his gut is wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They come around.


	3. Surprise Reunion

Keith wakes up relatively late. 

It's a good thing it’s only just a day to the weekend, some time off from job searching and the unpacking of things. Or otherwise he might’ve felt the need to just say fuck it and sleep in. It's not a big deal. 

This motel's bed is not as nice as the one he had back east. Getting up, groggy; with a strain of unbearable ache in his back that tells him he's in for a real trip today. Which only makes waking up all the more irritable at best. 

The clocks is off by two minutes, he’s resorted to counting the minutes as they past with a dotted concentration to the immobile stasis of his phone screen and a click of his tongue. 

Helping himself to the thought of grabbing a coffee motivates the system, he thinks he should get around to the same coffee shop again and get ahold of some before the day really kicks itself into gear. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Getting dressed fully, he’s out the door and out of the motel by 8:35, getting to the bus stop on time. When he does reach the coffee shop, he’s pleased to see that it opened, for worries over the hours being a little too early for services. 

The girl he talked to however isn’t there, so he settles with ordering the usual and taking off without a thought; absentmindedly texting a small share of good mornings to Shiro. 

It’ll all lead him back to that paper he ripped off the bulletin board from yesterday, remind him again of what he needs to get on before anything is dealt with; pulling up the number again. 

There’s a minor unsettling bit of hesitance that sit within the base of his fingers tapping the call button, Keith isn’t really sure what it is, but even with the assurance of that girl’s words--Pidge was it? and the upliftings of Shiro’s encouragement, he’s still feels like apprehensive over the extending conversations prior to actively making certain things happen and at a more reasonable time. 

But he can’t wait, school is gonna start up soon and he can’t keep fixing for money on motels all the time, that’s not gonna work, and without a job still, it’s only a matter a time before the money’s loose and he’s got nothing left so this is important. He needs to go through with it, however much he wishes the discussion of it wasn’t through a exchangement of a phone call. 

So when that finger hits the pretty green calling icon, Keith is more or less shoving down extra strenuous amounts of anxiety, pushing back on all other thoughts while the phone rings and he waits by a stop sign, near the crossing of a street with a flower shop landed besides him. 

Nobody picks up the first time, he breathes with respite.  
Nobody picks up on the second try, it’s not as easy. 

On his way down the street, contemplating whether to pick this up at another time seems more plausible than just bothering the folks at home sleeping. It’s confessedly early for this, but he wants it out of the way sooner than later, and now couldn’t have been pressed for a better time so he thinks and maybe that’s why his finger knowingly goes for the third try expecting nothing different when he turns a corner from a Mailing office. 

Except someone does pick up this time. And when they do, Keith’s so surprised by the somnolent voice on the other end that he actually tenses up and almost trips on the uneven sidewalk plate. Well what do you know, third time's the charm. 

“ Hello….?” The voice smacks, and it almost sounds like someone’s just now waking up and easing into a more comfortable position on a bed. Keith feels a little guilty for unknowingly disturbing someone’s sleep with his repetitive calls. 

“ Um.. hi? S-sorry, are you just now waking up?” It’s the most that he can squeak out, finding a spot to stop against a wall and lean on without watching other passersby drone on into routine.

There’s not so much of a response, so much as there is a lot of movement, and a lot impassive sounds that makes Keith wanna berates himself mentally of not just letting this go until later. He could’ve have waited until eleven, honestly he could have waited, but he didn’t want to. Call it being in a rush to get things in order before the chaos of school and job hunting arises around the corner. 

“ Uh.. yeah? I am.” the voice finally replies. “ Can I ask what this call is for?” 

At first Keith says nothing, because his mind is fluctuating between wanting to end the call immediately after frivolous apologies and try again later, and wanting to answer and get it over with the way that he had originally intended. 

A dry throat tucks the words under his tongue for well over a minute’s passing before he peeps up with “ I’m calling about the apartment thing again.” and then he pauses, taking a deep breathe in. “You know, the one conversation we had the other day about where to meet and stuff…?”

The person on the other end is particularly quiet, a little too quiet for Keith’s tastes, but he says nothing on it and waits. Another minute goes on, he hears something shuffling over the static. “ Apartment thing? You mean the flyer I put out like over a week ago?”

Keith perks up, “ Yeah, that thing.”

“ You’re calling about that?”

“ Yes.”

“ At 9:34 in the morning?”

Keith pauses, not quite picking up on the question. He relays it with a tongue sliding across chapped lips, staring. “ Yeah..?” 

Pause. a slew of silence lays presence with that response, before Keith is hearing a sigh on the other end; scratchy pings of something rubbing up against a solid object. “ Okay..and this couldn’t have been saved for better time?” 

It’s then that Keith feels his body slide back against the paint of a wall, almost exhaling his own begotten sigh while a hand comes to cover over the side of his face, trailing the scuff of his hoodie. ” I know.. I’m sorry, but I just wanted to get this squared away before I did anything else; and I wasn’t sure if you were up or not and I wasn’t sure if i could even go through with this but…

I called because I felt like I needed to, and I didn’t want to wait because I wanted to see if I could grab a hold of this opportunity before anybody else. And I’m super sorry for waking you up, I didn’t know you were sleeping in and It was silly of me for not realizing that not everbody is really up on a day like this, especially since it’s the weekend, and I kinda wanted to save this for later but I just--”

“ Woah woah woah! Hold on there buddy, it’s okay, relax!” The person over the phone slips in, there’s a laugh and Keith leans with all but confusion to sit on his features for a few good seconds of someone chuckling over the other line. “ What?” 

“ You don’t have to apologize, it’s cool I get it. They continue, “ I wasn’t really expecting anyone to call this early about it but, it’s fine. You’re good dude I promise.” 

Keith blinks, “ So, what you’re not upset?”

“ No, why on earth would I be upset? I mean I am still kinda sleepy, and the phone was on a medium-ish high volume for a couple of minutes but still I’m up and that’s all that matters. Besides this is usually around the time when I get up anyways.” the laugh returns, much softer than before. “ This is Keith right? From yesterday?”

He’s really not all that sure about about what to think from all this, but at the mention of his name, Keith springs up from his slouched position, fingers tight around the frame of the phone. 

“ Yeah that’s me, and this is…”

“ Hunk, yeah it’s me. Okay so you’re calling here, which means you’re still after our deal which also means you’re gonna need directions to our place. Okay so I’m not nearly as dressed as I should be to meet and greet you yet, but I will be in like thirty or so minutes which should be enough time for you to get yourself ready and get here. Where are you currently?”

 

His surroundings have shifted a little since he first started moving about, he was around the coffee shop for a good few minutes. “ I’m.. near the college, right down by the coffee shop and a mail office.” 

Another pause. “ Oh! I know where you are. Yeah i’ve been down there before, my roommate works there, and that area is also pretty nearby the college that I go to as well. Wow you’re actually pretty close to where we live..” 

Keith, who is having himself a small sip of his coffee, harshly swallows the mouthful he has, looking to the phone. “ Really?”

“ Yeah actually, if you were to keep going south and then head past the mailing area, go east of the intersection before crossing over and heading left till you get to a small bakery and then heading on right… you would land yourself right in our little neighborhood in like five minutes flat. “ 

Wow, he didn’t actually expect that. The information itself from the first phone call that he had, as offered to him the idea that where Hunk lived was far, and that he’d had to take some kind of mobile transportation there often if he wanted to get there fast. This new information proves itself different than what he had heard.

“ I didn’t know that, ah could you repeat it all for me again. I kinda wanna write that all down for myself.”

“ Sure thing, but keep in mind that we’re gonna need a little time to get up and get settled. So try not to get here too fast.” Hunk says, a smile hidden. “ I look forward to meeting you though, like I’m super excited about the idea of another roommate standing here.” 

Between talks, Keith is pulling his fingers over the width of his backpack’s zipper, pulling out new paper and a pen he kept from home, to prepare himself to write down all the directions. 

 

“ Yeah, me too. You sound really nice..” 

Hunk laughs slightly after and somehow Keith takes a liking to a sound of it, smiling. They exchanged directions before sending each other goodbyes and a see you soon, before Keith is chunking his phone into the bag and getting all his things together; getting off the wall and heading south. Just as Hunk had said. 

 

Somehow his day so far isn’t irritable as he first thought it would be.

 

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————------------------------

 

It’s 9:50 when Lance is being roused out of his slumber by thumping and odd noises happening around every which way of the room. It’s disturbingly obvious the kinda lateness of the hour entails to him when his eyes do take a dip open, for better to look and see it himself. 

Despite it all what most would say- it’s still pretty early, as early as get could get for a morning and in his defense he should still be shedding z’s and not tuning awake to whatever the fuck’s going on right now. 

 

It’s a toss at his sheets, and he’s murmuring a curse softly under his breath, trying to twist away from the intruding hands, but they come and pull with a tug that sends the blanket flying off to the side of the bed; leaving him defenseless and for lack of a better term- cold. 

It’s also then does Lance get a gentle shove to his shoulder, slightly shaking in attempts to wake him softly-”Come on Lance wake up, we’ve got things to do.” 

Without the covers to convey a sense of not wanting to pull himself into consciousness, he slowly curls in himself, muttering every word he can manage out of himself with a unsteady breath as fingers clench over the sheets. Can it wait? At least five more minutes.

Hunk pushes at him again “ Dude c’mon I’m serious, we’re having company soon, you gotta get up.”

He’s unmoving, simply trying to shrug it off, but Hunk’s hands are relentless against his shoulder, it’s seconds later that his own comes up to swat them away absently, letting a long sigh leave under his breath. “ Fuc-Alright, alright I’ll get up, I’m up.”

“ Thank you.” Hunk say curtly, by the looks of things, he’s already fully dressed, the bangs of his hair pulled back in a neat ponytail, it’s the first time since the end of the summer and before the beginning of the year that Lance sees Hunk this awake and diligent, school’s not for another two days though, Lance doesn’t really see the rush. 

Rubbing at his eyes adapts a change, the sun is pushing light to the blinds-- already being opened up by Hunk, it spills in, crossing the bedside with a gold shade painting the sheets. Lance’s skin glows when he rises, away from the sun’s rising heat, “ What company?”

“ Remember when I said that thing about the newcomer coming over soon possibly?” The heat in Hunk’s voice cut overs the fan’s hum, catching in time for Lance to actually give a hint of hearing towards the noise of a TV playing downstairs.

Hunk must have been up earlier, he didn’t hear much, but he’s sometime quite the heavy sleeper so it’s possible that he just didn’t heed much of anything at all until recently. It explains a lot in the fact that Hunk’s moving around more busily through the rooms than anything Lance has ever seen him do on just a weekend. 

An expression of scrutiny presses his brows together. “ Yeah I remember…”

There’s a basket of clothes cluttered in Hunk’s arms, he’s pushing it out into the hallway where other stacks of things wait out on the floor by the bathroom. Books, junk, the likes of which were reserved for only the guest room as storage since theirs could only hold so much. Getting up entails Lance to investigate, there’s enough junk outside to fill up half the hallway. 

“ Well as it turns out, they’re coming today.” The slam of yet another basket hits the ground with an echo, a spring of clothes shooting up in reaction, sloppily grounded back on top the pile and the rim before Lance looks back . “ So we need to move some of this stuff... like now.” 

You gotta be kidding me..It’s like a minute has gone by and Lance’s mind is suddenly running off the steam of sleep and softened sheets to high alertness and a blinding rush of droll panic washing over him with realization. Shit that’s right, their new roommate. 

All this stuff- all the things they could never bother to put away in drawers or closets or in the shelved aisles of their smaller garage sits with a patience at their feet, and yet even with the reminders of lists he’s had filed away in his head, to-do lists of all kinds, they still never made time for this. This should have been priority number one…….shit. 

“Fantastic…” His foot rolls to knock at a piece of paper on the floor, the dust around cluttering the edges, he frowns.

“ What do you want me to do?” 

Hunk is making a face that says the answer to that question should be obvious by now, given the situation. but doesn’t really have the time to say it outright, in the process of picking up the dirty clothes before the doorbell rings and everything else halts in place for the both of them.

There are wide eyes making ways for around the corner and down the stairs at the noise.  


“ What..?”

“ Oh man he’s already here,” Hunk is treading himself through thick waters of mild panic, the basket hopped into his hands when he tries to scoot past Lance to get down the hall, papers and used books skittering to corners and sides when he makes the stairs. “ He’s already here, and we don’t even have the hallway cleaned out!” 

“ Wait! What am I supposed to do?!", Lance is calling back, his voice already hinting the same fear present in tone as Hunk’s, who’s already down the stairs and making ways for the laundry room. What is he supposed to do? Stick around here and clean up? Who’s gonna answer the door? 

It should be made abundantly clear here what’s more important, the junk’s gotta go somewhere, and one effort into it is much more effective and efficient than just carrying down clothes to the washer- that stuff can wait, but the books and paper and all the other things…

And then there’s the door, which by the time he thinks on it, is ringing with the bell again. 

Hunk hasn’t answered him, and judging by the way that there’s no opening and closing of a door being handled right about now he can only guess that nobody is getting to it any time soon. 

Maybe he should handle it. 

“ Hunk!” He calls from the top of the stairs, fingers pick the papers off the floor, he waits. 

“ Just go answer it for me!” A voice calls, “ I’ll.. I’ll be right there alright?”

Something heavy rolls off the tips of his tongue, tossing a gaze to the roof before nervous teeth puncture skin in his lips. Of course, because Hunk’s busy who else is gonna do it? 

His mind fluctuates, crushing the pieces of paper between palm on the third step down when the doorbells rings yet again and his mind dwindles on whether this person is truly worth the welcome considering the blatant impatient signal he’s getting just off the noise. He’s not even sure of himself to answer the door just right now, checking his face, his skin, his hair. He hasn’t washed up since he first woken up. He probably looks like shit. 

But by the time he reaches the last step, he realizes late that he can’t really go back and readjust himself into a more pleasing image, can’t really go back and see if there’s crust under the eyes or if the fatigue of sleeps hasn’t bolted a plague of crescent moons underneath. It’s a little irritating but he can’t really complained, until the fourth round of the doorbell rings when he gets to the door and his bout of civilized nature leaves the edges of his face seconds after he’s only just had time to calm himself down. 

 

This guy has no fucking patience, he can tell they’re gonna be a problem already. The paper ball is scrunched up in his hands when he opens the door, eyes closing, the real urge to say something nasty is coming over the cliff of his tongue. 

“ Look buddy, I know you’re excited to get it in with us here, but if you could just tone it down with the constant ringing of the damn doorbell, I can promise you someone is going to let you in. I get it, we get it, there’s no need to ring it more than just two times okay? One is enough noise, and frankly we heard you the first time but we’re kinda in the middle of fixing things up around here, and I’m sorry that our timing isn’t fast enough for you to handle, but considering the fact that it’s ten in the fucking morning--”

“ Lance..?”

He drifts off, blinking at the sound of his name and that voice. It’s takes a lot of effort in himself not to tense up, not to drop his tone when he turns and spies dark eyes showering bewilderment, loose clothes and messy hair hanging over in long bangs and the face of a boy aeons ahead of time in the past where Lance remembers red jackets and loud banters and chasing one another in the streets as kids. 

The shadow of a kid he once had been especially close with, staring holes into him makes the walls around them rupture and soften in nostalgic haze. His throat closing up on the words forgotten on his tongue, dropping the paper ball out of reach, it rolls off into the outside next a potted plant in the bush. 

“ Keith…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things go all downhill from here.


	4. Thinking of what we've give.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first week is hectic.

The scene is fitted to look dramatic if Keith could really find just the right the word for it. 

The sun rains in slivers; a potted plant in bloom and perfectly still by the window sill where a faucet runs and hands are collecting pots with grime as rich as the grass outside was green.A grey striped towel hangs over a stool by the side of the counter, messy. 

Some humming here and there and the kitchen’s a cast of colors ranging from shades of yellow and blue, from the walls over by the cabinets and under shadows from a clock and stranded dishes, to curtains tight around a loop, white decor in spots of gold; the kind Keith remembers in old movies; like those oldies done back in the fifties the ones Shiro’s friends couldn’t stop watching for a week once when they came over. It’s dramatically odd, but cute.

Well it would be. If not for something. 

It's the tapping somewhere drawn out in his fingers over a tabletop, staring. Making mostly small eye contact with the funny clock on the wall. A quarter past 11. He makes faces at everything, all to the scenery and the floors, but never across from him, or over the table near the sink. He’s trying to be courteous not to stare. 

But it’s hard when you’ve got the world’s angriest glare pinning you down at a pinch; A pair of eyes piercing sunken black holes into the pores of his skin while another is standing over the kitchen sink, doing dishes; minding his own business unlike the one sitting across a little ways in front of him; indignantly crossed.

It makes him uncomfortable. 

Lance has been at him for the past couple of minutes, just glaring forward and over from across the table. A frown pressed deep with in a pair of lips poised into a pout when Keith sees that no one else looking. It’ll be a one quick shot then gone seconds after; The other guy- Hunk would miss it in a heartbeat, just a flicker of him turning his head every few minutes just to look and see, sometimes he’d smile at Keith from the corners. A crinkle in his eyes. 

And then it’s glided back to the other one--Lance, shooting daggers in Keith’s direction like darts. Savage, but fleets away kind and self aware of Hunk watching with a blatant fake smile to match so as it make seem it didn’t even look like he wasn’t trying to burn Keith at the stake with a heated stare just a few seconds ago. 

And this only happens when Hunk isn't making complete and idle eye contact with them; pretending like his mind is elsewhere, getting chores done, it’s almost like he’s outright ignoring it. Despite being a witness to what could have been something worse than this “time out” session. Just a rinse and repeat at the table several times before he starts to conflict with it. 

That look really truly makes Keith uncomfortable. 

He doesn’t even know what to say, his body jammed to the seat, and unwavering with agitation. 

Waiting seems to be the only other option besides playing around with his phone, till the other one is done with whatever it is that they're doing. And he would much rather wait on the big guy to finish first before anything else; because there's just no way in heck he's going to sit here and try to inaugurate time with the other one--- Lance. They’ve already proven to be quite affronted by his sudden presence. 

And he remembers it faintly, the whole of the reaction lasted for more than four minutes, just seconds of an uproar in his face before a door slammed, and Keith stood on the porch blinking and trying to process in his head over what the fuck just happened; squinting befuddled under the hem of the roof’s shade in thought.

It was seconds of waiting outside in the heat, another one of vague confusion and the clear signs of shouting coming from the door. Someone sounds angry. 

And then it’s Hunk coming to bring him inside, a faint line pushed deep over his lips when they politely greet him.Why does he look so tired?

Keith would have said something about the timing, was he too early? Turning on his heels when he’s ways inside to ask, but gets cut off immediately by a cursing barrage from up the stairs, then some banging, like someone slapping something blunt over a door. Or kicking at a box, it’s almost startling to hear at first--- was that Lance?

He doesn’t even have the time to ask, Hunk is stumbling up the stairs,slippers making squeaks of protest on the third climb, a flicker of something catches Keith’s. “ Wait in the kitchen for sec, we’ll deal with this”, and then it’s gone while Keith just stands behind. Watching their shadow thin out when they reach the top edge and turn the corner. 

A blank stare lets his mouth reciprocate the heavy buildup of a tense exhale coming over him absent. It feels like disappointment and shock hitting each other at the chest; ballsy and ballistic.

It’s at that point that he knows , as soon as his bag slips off of one shoulder; after that first few cautious steps from the graveled pavement to the wooden creaks of faulty floorboards.

It's then that he realizes, from here on out, he's in for a real trip. 

 

And what a real trip this was, he could even say it was karma coming home to creep up and stab him in the back for all the times he wish he didn’t have to meet someone like this again.  
Keith will situate with keeping his gaze to the table, it’s beats better for distractions, anything to undo some the resolute glaring from the second party, it’s gnawing relentlessly at him. 

Lance has not stopped giving him the stink eye since he walked up in here, it's uncomfortable at first, being haunted by the scowl and frigid gaze following his every move, since entering the kitchen and sitting down, he hasn’t said not a word to Keith, still surprised by the sheer luck of the situation, still unpleasantly upset by the reaction. 

It would be considered a push of fortune; a coincidence on Keith’s part of the surprise reunion he never expected he’d get. And maybe he would have been a little happy to see the guy if not for the fact that Lance was looking at him like they were one wrong word out of line away from jumping over the table and wrangling Keith’s neck. 

 

Keith doesn’t understand what that look is even for.  
Why they acted so out of anger, it’s a mystery.

But the facet gets turned off, and Hunk is turning around with a towel in hand, drying off with a whistle. He seems to be unusually sunny about this whole situation despite the mildly hostile-esque atmosphere. Maybe he’s not reading into it? 

“So.” He finally says, knotting the towel between his palms, it’s decorated in soap and little specs of food bits, Keith makes a face. “ Now with that whole mess out of the way, how’s about we get this thing started yeah?”

Cheery, his voice is very cheery, Keith wonders if it has something to do with the atmosphere, flickering a gaze to Lance out of habit. His brows slightly raise. “ Y-Yeah? That would be great?”

Hunk smiles,deeply appeased by the initiation, Lance snorts, crossing his arms over his chest leaning backward in his chair. 

“ Cool, soo I’m thinking of a way to start this little inauguration here. You know, get it going all nice and smooth, but my mind’s a little blank. So how about we start with some things about you? Then maybe ask you some questions.” Hunk pulls a thoughtful look, the towels pushed aside for the edge of the counter before taking his seat on the stool he kept nearby. 

Keith can spy the paper sitting neatly by their hand it’s got scribbles of writing on it, probably the requirements list, but he can’t sure, and he doubts it every second that it’s glanced at but still feels nonetheless nervous. 

 

“ Uh what like an introductory kind of thing?” It seems a little odd, but he can’t complain, this isn’t his house, and as far as he’s concerned, going along with everything should just makes things go by easier for the everybody in this room. Might even dispense the tension. His eyes flicker over from the duo, more specially focused on Hunk. He’s not gonna stooped a glance with the other. 

“Well, my names Keith, you both kinda already knew that, and I just flew back out here from the east coast a few days ago.” he points out, clicking his tongue after the word “coast”, he should try to be more specific. “ Well, the big apple really--”

“ You’re from New York?!” The outburst from Hunk surprises him more with a blink, regresses from speaking up. They’ve slapped hands to the table, looking with a brows risen in heights Keith has never seen brows do before in his life. His back presses contact with the chair, “ Yeah. that’s where I flew in from.” 

“ Aw man, that’s so cool..” Hunk pulls away, an interested smile turns the curve of his lips up with effort, Keith isn’t sure how to react from such a blazen unpredictable reaction from just finding out where it was he came from. It’s not even the place he was raised in, just that.. it’s where he was for the past couple of years. But he doesn’t think that information is fairly relevant enough for such an ebullition. 

Lance doesn’t really seem all that impressed, he’s been quietly watching with a mirthless expression painted ill to his face. Tilting backwards in his seat. “ Yeah great, that’s amazing, next question..” 

Keith stares, Hunk will cough seconds later to clear of the air, his back glued to the seat. 

“ Alright so…” he continues down the list, eyes scattering over a few set of words, at the range of what Keith has seen moments before the paper was picked up, there isn’t much to go off on; and considering the list founded on the actual ad itself… it’s not many things at all, so this should be short and sweet.

“ Okay Keith, if you’re planning on living here,I have to ask. Are you you a clean person?” Hunk spares a glance with them from the paper. “ Like specifically, are you good at keeping your spaces clean?” 

That question is easy, of course he is. “ Yeah of course, I kept my place clean in the space. If I didn’t my other roommate would have nagged me for it.”

“ I hear that.” Hunk says, checking something off with a pen. “ Sometimes you just gotta give them the initiative if it stays a mess for too long. I know the feeling.” On the last part, he flickers a look with Lance, who all at once catches it with a scoff and leans forward. “ Oh come on! I clean up behind myself!” 

“ I know you do, but sometimes you get a little lazy, and I have to say something don’t I?” Hunk teases, with a grin, his eyes peeling attention back for the paper as he continues. Lance makes a face. 

 

“ Unbelievable… I’m not that lazy…” 

“ Nobody said you were..”

“ You just said I was!”

“ I said just a little, it’s not like I said you were much. Relax buddy..”

Keith wants to laugh a little , the scene is odd yet calming somehow than it was less than five minutes ago with all the tension in the room suspended in clouds above their heads. It’s homey, kinda of like how things were back home with Shiro, he can picture it well and actually does crack a smile behind a hand that closets the curve in his lips.

The feeling doesn’t last long however, as Lance pulls another glare across the table again. When their eyes meet, Keith falters back. The expression is apparent, his smile drops; alright then, maybe calm is not the right word for it. 

 

“Okay Keith, I’ve got maybe about two more questions and then I think we’re done, after this we can move on to the like the house tour and the guest room after this.” Hunk circles a box on the paper, smiling at Keith, who in short returns it faintly. “ I’m sure you’re tired from that long ride here from across states, you do okay when you first got here?” 

“ I did. I stayed at a motel for a little while, got situated there for a day before I came around to the school, checked in and got my schedule. It wasn’t as stressful as I thought it would be, I think I managed it fine..” He says, fingers tapping a strip of the table cloth come a loose. “ It could have been worst but thankfully it wasn’t.”

“That’s good to hear, I’m glad the trip for you was safe and easy.” Hunk keeps the smile going, for some reason at all, Keith can’t stop looking at it. “ So next is… money, on a financial scale would you be willing split up some of your cash to help pays bills and other things that we have while living here? Like for rent and stuff..?”

Keith blinks, crosses his arms over his chest. “ I mean yeah sure, I’d be willing to. I’m living under your roof, with you guys, I would think I would have to pitch in somehow. I have the cash.”

The pulls a noise out of Lance, “ Pfft, yeah okay you’ve got the cash… but what about a job?” 

Keith finally pulls his gaze up to them, Hunk follows suit, the paper leaving his hands. “ Lance..” 

“No, it’s a legitimate question, and we’ve put it to our list, I think he can answer that.” 

Keith sets his jaw, he doesn’t really like the tone surrounding the question, it sounds like they’re trying too hard not to be angry with him for some reason. He tilts his head. “ I don’t really follow..?”

 

“Come on.”Lance cuts in, “ It’s an easy question, whether you have you have it or not, the answer should be simple. “ 

“ Lance…”

“ I have enough money on me.” Keith says, his tone starting to resettled into the room in imitation of Lance’s, “ Enough to help out, and enough to last me a month but not long after that..” 

“ Soo, then it won’t be enough.” The look is scrutinizing, a brow pushing up unimpressed. “ Like long term, it isn’t gonna last a while.”

“ Lance that’s not really---.” 

“ I never said it was going to be long term, I just said it was enough for now, and enough for later. I’m working on getting myself situated first.”

“ Which is great! That’s great!” Hunk inputs in quickly, his head swiveling back to meet Keith. “ Settling in first should always be the priority, we don’t need to worry about the money now.”

“ So what about work then? Where do you go?” Lance doesn’t seem to be letting down the fires at all, with the way he inputs each question like he’s awaiting the wrong answer to arise up out of the rubble. It makes Keith feel like he’s interviewing for a high end job somehow, already hating it. And he leers irritably from his seat. 

“ I literally just got here. I really don’t think looking into that right when I’ve just gotten off a plane and situating in should be one of my first priorities just arriving. Considering the fact that it was a seven hour flight here.” 

“ Okay but--”

“ AND that is fine too!” Hunk interjects, his voice raising over the stewing fires of an argument growing hot before him as he settles it down before it can get anymore hostile. “ You don’t need to have a job just yet, we can help you with that, that’s totally fine. There’s nothing wrong with that.” 

The input seems final, albeit Keith isn’t really satisfied with outcome and neither is Lance, who purses his lips together faintly, delivering Keith of one final last glare before he turns his head away. 

Hunk settled backwards, this is probably not at all what he had expected. Given the atmosphere he must have caught on by now to the tension, and chose this moment in time to put an end in to it before things got anymore airy. All the questions they had beforehand were done, they didn’t need to be at this table any more. “Alright so Keith, I guess that’s it for you.” Hunk says, getting ready to leave the table, pushing his seat in with the paper still in hand. He’ll leave it to the counter for later. 

“ Wanna head upstairs for a little bit? We have the room situated but the bed isn’t finished, I’ve got the sheets sitting out in the washer. They should be done soon.”

Lance doesn’t say anything when Keith perks awake from his thoughts, surprised by the timing.  
“ Oh, alright.. I’ll get my things..”

Hunk nods, and Keith takes time to get out of his seat. He’s glad for that moment to be over and done with, anymore time spent there and there might’ve have been a fight. It’s odd, at the very least, he doesn’t really understand the hostility between himself and Lance.

They’ve only known each other for so long and then some, and even still when Keith had left to go off on his own, he still considered the friendship they had here as quaint and tepid as it once was. But that’s seem to have dissipated somehow. Lance won’t even look at him when he walks out the room and Keith pauses some just to make sure. No they’re not looking, in fact they look angrier than they did before. 

He was going to ask, but Hunk speaks up before the words catch fire in his throat. “ Uh, you go on and help yourself to the room upstairs. It’s down the hall to the right, next to the bathroom, can’t miss it.” He waves a hand, a gesture like dismissal and Keith acknowledges, giving one last look to Lance before he takes off. 

Hunk waits until he’s absolutely sure Keith is out of earshot, listening to the patterns of footsteps leading up and atop the stairs before he addresses the other at the table. A cold look of chiding expression meets the side of Lance’s face. “ What the heck was that all about?” 

Lance is stunted to his seat, all animated action of teeth grinding over the insides of his cheek are tussled back down with a strangled noise of irritation. “ Nothing..” 

Hunk bemuses, “ That attitude you put together during that entire session didn’t look like nothing to me.” He eyes them carefully, a bit of concern tumbling over the last parts of his words when they come out soft. “ What was going on there, why were you so angry?” 

Lance chews the bottom of his lip, crossing his arms. “ I just don’t want him here. I just don’t wanna see him here after all this time. Of all the people who could have come and lived with us, anybody at all that could have called and done this instead, and I would have been fine with it. But no, it has to be him… of all the freaking people in this city..and he’s back here?”

 

Hunk doesn’t really understand, the way that Lance talks make it seem like he knows this boy well enough without the due effort and effect of first impressions. To which it would be implied that Lance knew them well before they showed up here. He can put two and two together all at once. Blinking, he says, “ You know him already?” 

From the question Lance scoffs, “ Of course I do, I’ve known Keith for a long time, we used to be buddies when we were little. You know way before you came around, and we’ve used to be real close in the past.” 

“ Well then, I don’t see how that’s such a big problem. If he’s an old friend of yours than I think that you would be ecstatic to have someone you’ve known and had around back in your life again right?” Hunk, puts on a faint smile. “ I mean if you’re both still friends--.” 

“ We’re not.”, Lance cuts in. “ Keith left for a real long time after a long period of school. He took off on his own, didn’t call me to tell me anything, didn’t keep in touch the day after he went…”  
He continues, eyes grown murky as their gaze hits the table stern. “ We had a fight about it before he went, and he never apologized for it, just took off without saying anything. Didn’t even give me a goodbye.”

“Oh.” Hunk pulls his gaze elsewhere, a silence overtaking their initial talk while he processes that information into his head. “ I didn’t know that. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“ Because I don’t like thinking about it. I don’t like talking about what went on between me and him as a whole in the past. It’s not like it’s anyone’s business, and I’d prefer to have never really thought about him again, but apparently that’s not going to happen anymore. Not with him here.. It feels like karma.”

“ Don’t say that.” Hunk puts a hand over the edge of Lance’s shoulder, the tough is soft but firm with a grip that ails comfort to the reciprocant, but not enough to temper the wrath. “ Lance come on..”

“ I don’t want him here.” Lance finally undoes the his gaze from the table towards Hunk, his jaw set tightly, as he mustered the serious look with a grudge. “ He can’t stay here. He’s got to go.”

“What?” Hunk moves the hand away from their shoulder, surprised, “ Why..? He just got situated here.”

“ I don’t care! I don’t want to see him. He’s the last person I would ever want to put up with at all given the status of how he ended our friendship and never bothered to stay in touch. I think it’s pretty clear where me and him stand on this. Why should I have to put up with that again?” 

“ Lance hold on..” Hunk takes him by the hand, grabs it as quick as he can with fingers taking flight and gripping onto the back and ends of their skin. His mouth turns a flat line while Lance stares on but doesn’t put into any effort of taking his hand back from Hunk’s. Unease swimming in shades of blue when they look upon Hunk’s and he’s biting his lip at this, trying to work up some way to fix up this mess somehow. 

But it’s hard, because Hunk wasn’t told about this before, and he hadn’t known this would be a problem between them had the name of Keith risen up beforehand in other conversations. He feels like he failed to introduce that part, maybe had he said something before, this all could have been avoided. 

But it’s a little too late to take back what’s happened. And Keith is already here, and they’ve already approved of his stay, so now they are stuck with this option they’ve left opened up since the beginnings of last week. Had he known these two weren’t on good terms, he might’ve… 

“ Okay.” Hunk starts, because at first he has nothing, and his thoughts are clogging up with ideas to solute this plight they’ve got in a wreck before them. A starting wildfire. Okay, he thinks, I can figure this out. 

“ Okay.” 

Lance sits and waits, confusion mixes an expression with brows furrowed together in patience.  
“ Okay….?” 

“ Okay, how about this. I’ll make a proposition for you.” Hunk says this carefully, flickering a gaze with Lance. He bites his lip on it, processing; Lance squints suspicious. “ A proposition?” 

“ Yes, a proposition that we let Keith stay here.” 

Lance’s eyebrows shoot up, then he frowns, sucking in a breath, “ Aw--no, NO! Not happening- nuh-uh, no way! I don’t think so!” 

“ Bear with me here Lance. I’m not finished. “ Hunk pulls up a hand to put a pause to their protest, it doesn’t help, Lance is adamantly dissent. “ Hunk--”

“ Just let me finished, I promise you it’s not that bad..” He continues, putting his hand away but keeping the other one right on Lance’s; fingers together in a fixed embrace. He is aware of how this action seems to calm them down during bouts of anger. Having done this all before, it adds some reassurance for what he’s about to propose. 

“ Look, I know that this is technically our house, and we can do just about anything we can about this, really we could. But that doesn’t mean we should kick him off to the curb just because of something that’s happened in the past. For one, he’s already applied here, and I’ve already kinda accepted him as our new roommate anyway…”

“ What?!” If the eyes in Lance could grow any bigger with disbelief, Hunk would be staring holes into bottlecap sized moons; the incredulity cutting loose with choler. “ When did you--”

“ I did it over on the phone when he first called me this morning. While you were still sleeping, I got a call from him and finalized a lot of things. I pretty much guaranteed for him he was staying here. 

Lance’s expression drops, falling back against his seat, Hunk follows their reaction with a flat line to his mouth, trying to lessen their defeatist attitude as one hand slides across to catch Lance’s shoulder. He watches as two pair of hands slid over the frame of their face. “Lance… you gotta let me finish....” 

They don’t reply, all Hunk receives is a muffled disgruntled groan that sounds strangled and pensive.He almost feels bad and actually start to bite his lip. “ Listen, I’ve given it some thought about it, and I wanna make things work out here. We’ve been waiting on this, and even though it’s been a week, I still want to work something into it. So I’m giving this thing a three week try-out.” 

Lance pales, peeking one eye out from the hands that covered his face. He notes the look in Hunk’s eyes, as determined as they seem, they don’t really understand the full extent of this. He wasn’t told for anything, and now he’s getting this information? He cures the acid settling fetal within the center of his chest with an inhale, closing both his eyes. “ What try out…”

Hunk’s expression falters with relief, they’ll listened to him, thank god. He clears his throat, removing his hand to cover his mouth. “ Okay so, I know you said we didn’t need any help here. That we were fine with this whole finance thing..”

And Lance would input steadily under his breath, yes they were, but there’s a catch of something in Hunk’s eyes that tells him against it. His mouth purses under the palm of his hand. Hunk continues, “ But I know for a fact that we wouldn’t do okay just off our own money alone. We barely have enough every other week and having this could really help us substantially.” 

“ So get another person then? It can be anyone else, anyone at all that could work. Why does it have to be the guy that ditched out on me for several years? Why can’t it be someone I actually wouldn’t mind living in the same house as me?”

“ And just who else would you have in mind that doesn’t already have a house of their own and isn’t flying under radars of debt?” Hunk calmly counters, their gaze stilled. 

“ Shit I don’t know! That kid from down the block? He’s moving out soon, maybe he’ll want a place here that’s closer to the school, or Ellie from engineering. Hell, if we’re so desperate, we could take a stab at Rolo, or even his pal Nyma from downtown Phoenix.” 

“ You know I can’t stand either of those two.” Hunk grimaces, “ Any of those options don’t work out for us, and I’d rather drink a whole bottle of hot olive juice than have those two come anywhere near my house, much less live in it.” 

“ Well then that’s two down on your list. Next candidate?” 

Hunk feels the harsh embrace of disappointment and unsettled abrasion grate his nerves when two fingers come up to pinch the bridge of his nose. A sigh leaving him as he regroups. This is a lot harder than expected, he forgets sometimes that Lance can be a stubborn bullet when it comes to these things. Dislodged in place, uncomfortable, and unable to push out no matter the force to pull him out of it. He can’t say he’s not at all mad about it, but Lance is Lance. 

When he has an opinion, he sticks to it, it’s never changing unless that subject changes it for him. Which in any case, doesn’t happen. 

Except it should, because Lance shouldn’t have to hold grudges. 

And Hunk can’t keep him from not trying to, no matter what, but he can understand it in some circumstances. Even here it’s presently accounted for, and possibly deserving in some way, he just doesn’t know how it is. Hunk gathers up the rest of his thoughts, at any case it’s going to be a long morning of this back and forth tug-a -war if he doesn’t move this along and get the rest of it all out. Keith is probably wondering what’s going on upstairs. They shouldn’t make him wait this long.

“ Lance, look. I’m not looking for anybody else..”

He can hear them huff up, dispelling something loose under their tongue, probably a curse word. He ignores it, keeps going. “ I’m giving this Three-weeks. Just three weeks at the most for you and him to pucker down and get all your things in order. That should be enough time for you two to at least get around to being used to each other again, and maybe even fixing whatever it is that’s happened between you two.” 

Lance’s hands, having dragged off his face gradual, come back to slam against the table side, the pencil by the side of the paper jumping in reaction. “ What?!” 

“ I said I’m giving this three weeks. It’s a trial to see if things will work out in this house for the time being until the end the month which is when that trial ends. I think things can work out here, if we put in the effort, that includes you and Keith. Which means for the time being, he’s living with us and we’re all just gonna get along and see where these weeks take us.” 

He stops some, pulling a finger up to stop the gaping maw anew from unleashing words; Lance’s lips pull open then dim flat, knowingly seeing their awaited protest again and manages to halt. “ But if things don’t go well, between any of us… he can leave.” 

And Lance takes heed, his words cutting short in his throat as he falters back, blinking. Hunk lowers his hand, but takes a hold of Lance’s again, a thumb running circles over the top of their skin. “ That’s my proposition..”

It takes several few good minutes for Lance to process that entire piece of information, staring off in thought with a look Hunk can’t articulate as anything but vague dubiety. It makes Hunk hesitate nervous with how they don’t say anything for a long time. But the way his fingers tighten well around Hunk’s seems reassuring at first. 

 

“Just three weeks?” Lance pipes, a brow quirks dubious, Hunk nods his head. “ Yes, just three weeks.”

“ Why can’t it just be one or two? Why extend for that far? You really think we’re all gonna make it?” 

“That answer seems to show a fundamental lack of faith in you and I Lance.” Hunk says, a look of deadpanned expression imitates the assurance. “ Which I find to be immensely disheartening.” 

“ You don’t know Keith like I do.” Lance starts to pull his hand away, hesitantly Hunk lets his fingers undo themselves from their palm. He notes the way Lance frowns slightly looking off to the side. “ The guy's a rocket of trouble and bad decisions. With a temper to match that fiery-esque personality he’d had going for him. He’s stubborn and brash, and can get in your face when he really wants to be in a mood.

Which mind you doesn’t happen a lot, but the fact of the matter is even when not provoked to be mad all the time, he still manages to spit fire like it’s going out of style, all the while putting you in a corner full of mashed emotions that make you wanna barf all over on the inside… I’m not denying that it’s not gonna be hard, but it’s kinda wishful thinking on your part to be believing it’s gonna be a walk in the park with this one. Especially since he’s involved? Which in this case for me is… yikes.” 

“ I’m waiting to hear a good counter argument to this.”

Lance rolls his eyes. “ You and I could have handled this on our own just fine when I had first said it just a week ago.”

“ And yet, you still went along with it.” 

“ But that’s because you asked! And how was I supposed to say no? You made a good argument.”

“ Oh so you admit I was right?” 

Lance pulls a fast jab into Hunk’s shoulder, it’s playful and Hunk nearly laughs after the fact, watching as Lance’s face shifts into a soft but irate pout.  
“ Whatever. I like my apartment the way it is.” 

“ Come on, Lance.. It can’t be that bad..” 

“ I like my apartment.” He reiterates, “ It’s tight-knit, it’s cozy, filled to the brim with all my cool stuff, and completely off-limits to people like Keith who bailed out on the people that cared.” 

Hunk makes a sad face at that, the curve of his lips dipping under, like he wants to say something. They seems to be coming back on stand stills and the silence isn’t resonating a hint for either side to pick off and be done with this. 

But he thinks they can handle this, it’s just half a month of trying this out, half of month to prove different. And if Lance thinks they won’t last and is proven right, well then, Hunk will go back on his words and drop the subject for good, it’s the least he can do. 

“ Please. Let’s just try this.” Hunk presses, and his expression paints closer with a mixture of a resolution and serious compunction. “ And if it’s doesn’t work out, then he can go, and I’ll drop this for good.” 

Lance hesitates, his gaze follows to Hunk’s then to the hallways where Keith stroll off to moment’s before. Everything about this is screaming at him not to offer the benefit of the doubt. That he should be skeptical and angry, and rightfully so in his objection to the thoughts of having someone he’s known come and go like a light in the night out of his life so fast to be here again with him under the same roof. 

A part of him ails that the argument isn’t worth it. It could just be that the past is still fair ways in the past and this is all different. Keith could be different and so could he, and frankly he doesn’t really have the notion to trade doubt with ideas on whether or not this could turn out for the better. A part of him wants to say no.

But another part of him takes trust in Hunk’s words. Maybe things really are different, maybe things have changed, and he just has to check for himself on that theory to be sure of it, indefinitely. It could be a smart idea, or that it could just before for the finance whichever one comes forward, and they didn’t make that list and go through all the trouble for this one thing for nothing. 

_“I still think we should give it a shot. Like at the very least a 50% shot at it. “_

Lance hesitates, biting his lip. Hunk’s voice will wavier. 

“ Lance?” 

“Okay.” He mutters faintly, “ I’ll… give it a shot.” 

Hunks hand slips away, he presses a soft kiss to the back end of Lance’s hand. Lance will turn his gaze to the window, feels that churning anxiety in his gut leaves him still with a calm; For Hunk, it’s all the answer he needs.  
\-----------------------------------------

Keith can not say he’s been in a better house. 

This place isn’t very spacious more so as it is comfy, from the way the room is set up, it looks no more like it was used for anything but a storage closet for several different items he’s found no less than thirty minutes wandering the house. 

He tries to keep to himself most of the time that he’s out of the room, a good few moments of getting acquainted with his new roommates all the while situated the rest of his stuff and putting together everything that he had taken with him in a single luggage. 

Hunk had offered some of his help, after bringing him the roll of sheets fresh from the dryer, to get rid of some of the extra stuff hanging around, this place had been cleaned to a pinch, but there was still others thing left alone around and off to the side, like the boxes with labeled names on them such as “ Lance’s stuff.” and “ Hunk’s collectibles--FRAGILE, Do not break” written on the front ends and sometimes the side. 

Keith takes a considerably amount of interest in Hunk’s box the most, the collectibles inside are wrapped in abundant amounts of bubble wrap and plastic as his curious hands runs over the service of old dolls and boxed in figures. 

Lance’s stuff however, was mostly filled to brim with things like CDs and old notebooks from school. On the rarity of finding several boxes of jewelry, old comics and videogames, Keith raises his brows at each thing that finds a refuge in his hands. He doesn’t pry into much else. 

This place is nice, but it’s not as nice as the one home he’s had back on the eastern coast. 

He can’t complain though, at least he’s not fumbling out in the dark, day after day, still trying to find a reasonable home for himself. He has to say to himself how lucky he is to have found this so quickly and in just the short span of a week no less. Probably the first a student’s ever been able to obtained a rent like this in forever; so he’s happy about it, and he’ll stick with this for however long he can, till something else or he finishes school early and he can kick back home again if the chance ever arises. 

Either that or he could just stay here, and find himself a worthy enough job in piloting, that’s where he really wants to be, and this school is one of the best so far that he knows is good for getting students out and about in that field. He couldn’t have passed this up, not on his life he wouldn’t. 

So he spends most of his time, unpacking, and most of his time making up the bed, and answering his phone to text messages from a sleepy yet cheerful Shiro who’s just got off the phone talking to another friend of his--Allura. Keith had heard that she’d lived a state away from where he resides at, studying law the same way Shiro is. 

Their chat is brief, lasted after the hour of six, before Shiro had to go to work on studying, and Keith’s eyes battles sheets of jet lag, he’ll want to sleep when the Blankets and flat sheet are done being pulled over his bed. but ends up having trouble and frowns several times over when trying to push the edges over the side and failing when other side corner chose to slide up after he had just pulled the second corner over the other. 

 

It was an even more difficult night as the hour started to settle in when he had come down for dinner, and Lance had been there, chewing absently on a piece of apple. 

He doesn’t say anything walking up and around the table. They stop short and peer at him defensively before turning their gaze elsewhere and storming off, the apple tossed to the bottom of the trash can when the thump of it leaves behind the only response Keith gets. 

 

And it doesn’t get any better, because when the night edged on later and he was ready to take off to sleep. Hunk has said his goodnights and gave them a hopeful smile before turning away, and Keith felt alright just for a couple of minutes until Lance turns the corner up the stairs and down the hallway. They made eyes for just a second, it was one-two many seconds after the fact, more than what was done in the kitchen, and the staring contest had ended with Keith blinking fast with a look of mild irritation painted to his expression ---

”What Lance?” 

Lance doesn’t give him an answer, in fact all that he gets is a mean vague look that’s none too appealing to his own; like an imitation of that same glare Keith received hours ago across the table and then he’s walking off, as if to say he didn’t hear Keith at all or has chosen to ignore their question all together. Keith doesn’t get it. 

And he goes to bed feeling more and more uneasy about it, for the rest of the night over.

\-----------------------------------------------------

It’s not until the next day over, does Keith finally get the hint. 

 

It’s Saturday morning when he waits up, groggy and still half asleep. The house is quiet and he doesn’t really know it’s early until he looks at the clock and spies that the hour is fixed around 6:34. 

He figures he should go back to sleep, but really can’t, having just awoken and removing himself from the sheets, he’s out and about, wandering through the hallways and past Hunk and Lance’s room without disturbing them.

The kitchen is met with little light, the cloths of the curtains shielding some of it out from his eyes when he enters, taking time to push fingers through his hair and walk in towards the sink. 

He’s explored most of this house just a good few minutes yesterday with Hunk playing tour guide as he’s moved around each section of it. He didn’t hear anything of what went on after he went upstairs, waiting around in his room till he got bored and decided to move around and made for the stairs…

That’s when he caught Hunk at the bottom, rushing up, looking as if he had just been sprayed with a dish of bad news and Keith’s brows lift at the hastiness in their voice when they asked if he was ready to have a look around. He didn’t say much about it, probably because it was none of his business, and probably because it had more to do with Lance. 

And anything about Lance was…. definitely not any of his business. 

So nothing was said about anything the rest of that entire day, and Keith hangs by the counter looking over his surroundings in thought over it several times before his body slides from the counter to the fridge, hesitantly opening it and looking inside. 

 

It’s not until he’s picked at some grapes in a small package by the side door does he spies movement out of the corner of his eyes, freezing in place. The fridge is immediately slammed shut, Hunk stops as soon as he hears it. Suddenly more alert than ever but calms when he sees it’s just Keith. 

“ Oh! Wow you’re up early.” Hunk says through a yawn. He stretches up some, loosely letting his arms raise and then fall when he’s several steps in. “ Didn’t expect you to be awake, good morning.” 

 

Keith takes a moment to take in the change of clothes in Hunk, They’re dressed in clothes bright and loose, almost sporty kind with a pair of nike gym pants, orange stripes lining the sides. It’s odd at first, because he’s sure they didn’t have any of that on when they went to sleep the other night, the bag of grapes in his hand crinkles with weight. “ Uh…. morning?” 

 

Hunk smiles, looking at the clock before moving towards one of the cup boards, his hand scours for a tube like cup and a lid,moving over by Keith to the fridge for the water dispenser. Keith doesn’t budge at first. “ Excuse me for a moment..”

And he moves and his feet sorta stumble over themselves, his hip hitting the back of the chair beside him, and he flinches some, turning away but paying no attention to the flicker of pain that ills his side. 

Hunk’s brows raise. “ You alright there?” 

Keith can only nod, the bag of grapes is placed to the edge, rubbing his side. “ Yeah I’m fine.” He should be a little more careful, but all in all everything subsides. “ What’s with the get up you’ve got going on? Are you going somewhere?”

“ Actually yes. I’m going out for a run real quick. “ Hunk undoes his pressure of the tube from the water dispenser, the cap sliding perfect over the top. “ I like to go out early because you know less people, and it’s much cooler than it is in the later afternoons. I don’t do it much because of like school and other stuff, but it’s a thing I enjoy when I have the time for it.” 

“ Oh.” Keith noticeably shakes his head, understanding. “Alright, do you always get up this early?” 

“ Hunk clicks his tongue. “ Ehh not all the time? Like sometimes I wake up early? Like really early early around six-ish, sometimes five, and rarely four. But there are times where I don’t get up or I’m just tired and wanna sleep more and that happens around maybe.. Ten- elevenish. But never enough to be late for class.”

 

“ Wow.” Keith notes with subtle surprise in his words. “What keeps you up at four in the morning?” 

“ You don’t wanna ask that.” Hunk simply answers, the water is put away at his side, on a pouch. “I’ve got a multitude of reasons for why, but they’re not incredibly bad, they just mostly revolve around work and homework. Some of the projects we have to do are hectic, so I spend about that much time from the night before to get around on it.” 

“ I hear that. I have a feeling my nights are about to become the same in a couple of days..”

Hunk laughs at that. “ Yeah.. they probably will. Speaking of which, what about you? What major are you going into?”

Keith looks up from the question, having been distracting his teeth with biting an opening to the grapes in the package. A grape escapes from the rip, “ Me? I’m uh.. into Aeronautics Engineering … it’s a part of my piloting major.”

Hunk’s brows raise at that, “ Really? Oh man that’s like close to mine, we might be meeting in some classes then.. What’s your schedule look like?”

 

Keith thinks it over, and then frowns. He didn’t really bother looking at after he got it. Just folded it up and put it away in his bag right after he left. “ Uh, can’t really remember, I gotta look back at it first.” 

“ That's fine, I’m sure we’ll see when we get there.” Hunk pushes away from the fridge, stretching out once more before he checked the clock again. “ Alright well, I’m gonna go tangle with this run, get it out of my way and then get situated with work right after. Lance should be getting up soon. He’s got work as well…” 

At the mention of “Lance” , Keith freezes with a grape halfway in his mouth, leering. He hasn’t got around to asking about that yet. The grape pushed away in his mouth, chewing with words. “ What’s his deal?”

Hunk stops in his tracks, looking back confused. “ What do you mean?” 

“ Yesterday morning when I first came here and rang the doorbell, he answered it.” Keith starts, pushing another grape in. “ When he first saw me he acted really weird, like really weird and then he said some words that sounded really angry and slammed the door in my face.” 

Hunk’s look teeters from bemusement to shock, he doesn’t remember much of that part fully, but he did get around to when Lance was having a fuss by the door when he came by without the laundry. Some of the way the surprise on his face must show for a response because Keith continues right after that. 

“Then at the table, he kept leering at me like I had just kicked his favorite puppy. It was unnerving.” Keith puts away the pack of grapes by his side, crossing his arms. He knows Lance, and he knows how they can be, the look he recieved was nothing short of anger and something deep seated. And maybe it was because he made a face of his own or said the wrong thing,Keith didn't know. 

But the hostility towards him was just… something about it seems unwarranted and he doesn’t like it, and he doesn’t understand why, and so asking Hunk about it seemed like a good thing all at once. They might know what’s wrong. “ Do you know what’s up with that?

 

Hunk doesn’t look so certain with an answer, he’s pulling a blank face and then some, with a nervous tick etched to the hesitance in his eyes. His fingers fidget against the countertop, tapping with restive nature. “ Uh..I.. actually don’t know? I mean it could just be he was in a bad mood or something. He can get like that at times.” 

 

Keith squints dubious to the reply. “ Really?” 

“ Yeah, sometimes he just has bad days and they come and go from time to time, but the mood eases off of him, don’t let it bother you too much. It’s just Lance.” 

Keith backs off, his gaze fixed at nothing when he recesses that answer over and over in his head. Has Lance always been that angry? He doesn’t remember a time in the past where they ever shown that much resentment towards himself or at anyone else before in his life. He’s known them for a long while, and the most angry he's ever been was pouty looks, and loud snide comments that ended with nasty glares and storming off. It wasn’t as narratively dramatic as it was yesterday. The years for them must have changed more than just their looks. 

“Huh..”

“Yeah, like I said, he’s had some bad days. It’s best not to bother him about it and let him be, He’s usually fine a couple of hours after. promise.” 

They nod it over a couple of times, okay. And Hunk lets himself out, taking his water bottle with him “ Alright I’m going out for a bit, won’t be gone long but I’ll have my cell on me incase something happens. Try not to make a mess around here. “ They say through the doorway as they go, looking back only once.” and I would have said that you’re free to eat and drink anything in the fridge…. But um, heh, I see that you’ve already gotten around to that.”

 

Hunk eyed the half eaten pouch of grapes Keith had pulled out, Watching the way they tense and bring up their hands to say something. 

“ It’s okay Keith, I’m glad you’re already trying to situate here. See you later.”

And Keith hangs back, by himself, wandering his eyes to door and towards the window again, The sun has risen up over the clouds outside, the dew of the grass glowing in echoes of whites and blues. He relaxes some after the fact over Lance’s chagrin, somehow he felt better hearing it was nothing more than a bad day’s effort but can’t for the life of him push past the doubt in his head that it’s something more than that. 

He just doesn’t know it yet.

 

\------------------------------------------------------------

 

Keith keeps out of the house. 

He goes for a walk and spends time outside in the neighborhoods. He’s out of the house before Lance leaves and Hunk has come and gone back, cleaned up from the showers to work so even when he returns, he knows that he’s alone. 

He hasn’t got a clue of what to do with his time, considering the fact that he has no job as of yet, and his money is teetering close to being gone in two weeks. Five hundred and seventy two dollars can be gone in a wink if he’s spending it for all the wrong reasons. Shiro has told him on more than one accounts--- be wise about your money, don’t spend so much of it in one day. 

So he spends most of his time surfing the internet, most of it searching the area for a job he can land quickly and hopefully pays good, it’s not a good find at first, but he does comes across a couple of jobs that fit into what he needs. A paper is filled at his leisure with names and numbers, places to go later on, and he recedes backwards against the bedpost. 

 

Later comes, and he hears voices in the house, they must be home, and it’s careful shoes hitting the base of the stairs and down the hallway, to find two persons having a chat, minding time with themselves to leftover food when he enters. 

There’s a smile lifted to Hunk’s and a break of avoidance in Lance’s eyes, they’re quiet when he doesn’t say anything it’s stays like that for a few good minutes till Hunk asks if he wants to eat. 

 

They do and the scene is fitted to be surreal in the eyes of Keith, once they’re done, dishes pushed away in washers and sinks, Lance’s tired eyes leave him feeling restless and Hunk leaves whatever they had in the sink soiled with water to soak for later when he’s done. 

 

This unpredictable silence between them, Keith thinks, is settling up for the catalyst of the something he doesn’t expect and the night dwindles on fevered with this sentiment, 

 

\-----------------------------------------------------

They go out for the first time together to a movie. 

 

Hunk suggests it over the table the next morning, it’s a good way to spend some time with each other, and he thinks that it could pull off the stress from work as they’ve all been bided to save for Keith. 

 

It’s obliged however much Keith wasn’t so sure about it, but they all crowd into Hunk’s car at the time before the hour it started. 

It’s wasn’t all that bad, the movie itself was fully action-packed, and did well with putting off stress with distractions. There wasn’t a lot going on around them but he paid his attention to Lance, and he paid his attention to Hunk, and the two of them seem to be having fun. Lance himself, Keith pays the most attention to, is actually smiling some after the fact, babbling a mile a minute when the credits roll and they walk out with a skip in their walk that makes Hunk smile more makes Keith think about all the times he’s ever seen Lance do that when they were little. How Lance used to do this little jig whenever he got excited and it’s always amazed Keith all the more about the guy as they got older.

He’s actually smiling himself. 

And then they get to the car, where it’s a rush of conversations happening all at once, and Hunk is on his phone texting something to a couple of people, the chat bubbles popping up at alarming rates. Lance is laughing about something that was awful in a scene where the guy had jumped off a cliff, Keith is keeping to himself into the back seat, tentatively pushing through the contacts in his phones. 

They take off for home, and Lance is still rambling on about the movie with casual snide leveling the ends of each word as they come, Hunk simply nods a couple of times, keeping his eyes to the road and Keith’s eyes follows the streets and lamps on the side as they go. He can see the the billowing of clouds pile in the distance, possible cases of rain coming in. 

 

“ Honestly he could have done a better job fighting off that guy, I mean, just to go after him with just a butter knife and the other guy has a gun??? How does that even work?”

“ He still won didn’t he? I mean he stabbed the guy in the neck but nonetheless, he still won against him.” 

“ But it’s just not realistic, I mean that guy had a gun? And you’re telling me he couldn’t shoot a clear shot to take him out?”

“ Ever heard of the phrase, “brought a knife to a gun fight?” he didn’t have the right tools, but somehow managed to get back at the bad guys just fine without a nick in his clothes, and frankly he was already pretty well trained in fighting so it’s wasn’t like it was that unrealistic.”

 

Keith keeps out of the conversation at hand, not really focusing much on anything at all but the neighboring cars by their side at the stop light. The first few drips of rain are starting to come down over the car’s window and sill, placid--smooth and deeply idyllic at first. 

He kinda wants to fall asleep, and resettles somewhat into it, the voices around him float in out of vibrations and muttered hums from the static of the radio. 

It’s not until he's being shaken with an hand and something banging against his leg with a frantic motion does he realizes, Lance is rousing him out of his sleep, and saying something just as loud as he was moments after they left the theatre.

“ Dude, your phone’s ringing..”

It’s the first time he’s heard a word from Lance come anywhere directed to him, and he squints in a rather groggy fashion, fishing for the phone going off in his pockets. 

 

The name is bright in his face--Shiro. 

 

He’s more awake then, looking at it with fixedly before getting the call button, and leaning back.

“ Hey..”

 

He starts and the conversation is slow, with him dragging it along as well as he can, the crinkles of a smile cracking the surface. 

The rest of them are quiet while this happens, respectively not saying anything. It’s weird because Keith knows they could go on and on about whatever it was they were talking about beforehand, but he guesses it’s just because the topic has dropped itself of importance, they all seem a little tired. 

He ends it quickly after, they’re about a few minutes away from home when the phone pulls away from his ear and takes a space up in his palm near his lap. “ Sorry about that..”

 

Hunks speaks up from in front the driver seat, “ Who was that?” 

“ It was Shiro, one of my..well a friend of mine that I used to stay with before I flew in here.” Keith replies, his head tilting backwards, Jet lag, god this is awful. 

 

“ Really? He sounds cool, what does he do?” 

Keith has to look back, recess again, Shiro does a lot of things, that question is vague. “ Um, he’s in Law school, studies mostly Legal studies and Corrections… Pre law.” he could go on, the list could be as long as his leg, Shiro is a busy guy. 

“ He used to live down here before, but moved to study abroad and stay over on the east coast for a better school. I met him when I first got over there after the first year, and we’ve been living together. He’s a real great guy and considerate, I had a good time with him, however much he would go out of his way to nag me like a freaking brother, which he kinda is to me? I don’t know, he’s family.”

There’s a tight silence between them for a second, the car’s hum of the engine goes on fully rumbling at a rhythm too jagged and noisy. Hunk makes a noise. “ Hmm, he sounds like a busy guy, I don’t think I would ever have done well in that field. Well maybe I could have been into lawyer stuff if that was my thing, but it’s not. But I don’t deny that it’s not a good job. It pays well.”

Keith snorts, his head leaning over the side by the window. “ Sure..”

Hunk makes a smile behind the wheel Keith can’t really see and they continue on in silence for a good few seconds. 

Lance makes a noise, “ Ha, yeah I’m sure he was a cool guy, probably a better friend than anyone else was in your life. Good to know you had it great time over there Keith…”

And what a few good seconds of silence it was. 

Both other boys flicker their gaze to Lance in the passenger seat, One a lot more strained with confusion than the other, Keith is lifting his head up from the window. 

“Lance…”

“ Excuse me?” Keith speaks up, his voice rising with a veil of threat in it. 

Lance doesn’t look back. “ I said it must have been nice for you. What with having to move out and having the option of getting away, the idea of it is cool, great even.” He states as his voice grows lower with each word. His back sliding down lower in his seat. “ Didn’t have to worry about anything while you got to chase up a dream and then some, didn’t even think about any of the people you left behind, or what’s going on with them… must be nice, really nice actually. I’m sure you had a blast there, I could just imagine it myself.” 

Keith squints unfamiliar, the phone in his hand slips. “ What are you talking about?” 

Lance bites. “ Did you enjoy it there? Was ever fun for you? Did you get want you wanted out of leaving for so long? Or was it just not enough?” 

And Keith is flabbergasted because--what?? And Lance finally looks over, with a grim expression that’s painting unfamiliar bouts of memories into him all over again, like a spiral of acid tucking into the coils of his gut. He’s up and sitting alert, staring back. 

“ What is your problem? Like what have I done to you to make you so freaking abysmal towards me?”

Hunk’s fingers pressed firmly over the wheel, Neither one of them can see the sense of timidity run a course over his face. “ Hey.. let’s just all calm down.. We don’t need to start arguments in the car. Please let’s just chill out for a second, okay?”

 

“ My problem? Why do you think I have a problem? I haven’t said anything, nothing at all.”

“ And that’s exactly what I’m talking about! You haven’t said a word to me. For this entire weekend, you’ve been sitting back giving me looks like I’ve just burned your house down and kicked your dog! You wouldn’t even answer me when I asked, so I had to asked Hunk if he knew what was going on with you.” 

Lance lashes backwards towards the driver’s seat. 

“ You told him?!”

 

Hunk sputters, “ I didn’t say anything, I didn't think it was something we needed to talk about right then and there. I was keeping to myself. As for the private matter that you have, that should be handled between you two by yourselves.” He continues down the road, tilting the turning signal on as the blinker beats repetitive.” This has little to do with me anyways.. I’m sorry.” 

“ Hunk--!”

“ Told me what?” Keith cuts in the middle, moving his face up to drag the attention of Lance from the other. Hands find a place on either side of his seat, showing teeth as he presses. 

“ What is it that has you so angry at me that you can’t be bothered to outright tell me?” 

 

Lance is silent, but bares his face for Keith to see as he turns, their eyes a sharp blue and murky, expression filtering tame strenuous bits of anger that comes out in tiny slits in his voice. He’s never seen Lance get like this before, not in front of him at least.

 

“ You want to know what my problem is? My problem lies around that fact that you took off without so much as a goodbye, despite what I said to you five years ago. You didn’t even bother to listen to it. But you thought it would have been better to just go with the flow and ditch what we had going for us after all the promises we made to one another, and even then you still ditched because the plan for you and I wasn’t good enough.

And yeah sure you may have landed it pretty good, but that part falls a little flat over the fact of the matter being before that for that to have happen, you had to royally bite me in the butt before you flew off.” 

 

“ Royally bite- what are you talking about? I didn’t royally do anything to you. I simply just moved on, what difference does it make if we separated for a time, it’s not like it was forever?”

 

“ The difference is you didn’t bother to keep in touch, for the same several years, you left without contact and didn’t even bother to try because of what? You didn’t consider me a friend anymore? You didn’t want to confront? You’d rather spend time with other better friends who don’t “drag you down” and who I’m sure you’ve probably ditched within the first week?”

 

And Keith sits back like his face is burning, all jitters of wavering placidity gone amongst the mist; tremors of odd intrusive spots of choler clear the space for grounded teeth and clenched hands. And he thinks-- wow, you're kidding me. He understands it as quick as it comes, gritting his teeth He gets it--he gets it, and it’s---

It's the worst thing to be brought up about at a time like this.

Hunk is talking over them and hopping into the rising fire for peacemaker. He is trying his best to calm them down, but the offer of it bends a little late, his words fall on deaf ears. “ Guys, come on, we don’t need to do this--.”

 

“ That’s what this is about?” Keith starts, “ You’re mad at me because I left and never stayed in contact with you?” And his question hangs with the same incredulous expression it had lingering to his face uneven, like he’s trying too hard not to believe this is the answer. But if Lance’s shut mouth has anything to say on it, it’s that he’s right on his mark. “Really? That’s it?”

“ That’s not just it." Lance interjects quickly. 

\---“ But that’s just it isn’t it?----

\----”What kind of friend just up and bails”---

\---”I didn't mean to so sorry that I don’t”---

\---”That’s such a crappy excuse! Are you kidding me?”---

\---” It’s not my fault!----”

\----” It’s completely your fault you ass!” --

 

“Guys!” Hunk hollers over the fray, his voice a little louder than the rampant jabs firing out at each other as they yell. “ Let’s chill it down alright? You don’t need to get in each other faces like that!” 

“ You have could have sent me anything at all, a call, a text, maybe an apology and I would have been fine. Heck it would have been better than you dropping off the face of the earth!” 

“ So what? I don’t make a few calls to you because things got a little rough and rocky for me? Wow okay Lance, way to hold a shitty grudge over me. It’s not like I took off and moved specifically to fuck you over! I forget things a lot I’m so sorry for it! But I didn't just up and leave because of what happened between us.” 

“ Five years too late, you’ve had all the time in the world to tell me that.” Lance snarks bitterly, and sits back in his seat. “ It’s not like you have to anymore considering it was as clear as day from the moment you left that you didn’t give want to rekindle everything that we had, and you probably still don’t. So what’s the use?”

Keith is livid. “ Are you serious?! I didn’t leave because I didn’t want to our friendship back, I left because I wanted to, it was for my own benefit and you knew that! You knew because I told you a week before I went there and I wanted to take this chance with it because it something that was good for me, it had nothing to do with you.” 

He stops, and pressures his weight to the seat closing his eyes. God are they really---. 

 

“ Why do you always have to make everything about you? Why does me leaving and moving on to something good in life have to somehow reflect onto you? Because I wasn’t there? because I didn’t transfer with you? Stayed with you? People change their minds Lance, they do it all the time about all kinds of different things. 

I changed my mind about the school I wanted to go to. I’m sorry things didn’t work out the way that you wanted! That I chose to do something else besides stick with you in this town. It’s not like this should affect you anymore in the slightest anyway. Considering it was you who cut off the friendship in the first place, so why are you getting mad at me for never calling?” 

Lance twists up from his seat, swiveling around in time to protest but Keith doesn’t give him the satisfaction. His mouth already running a mile a minute. 

“ Because you wanted a reason to be mad at me for something I chose for myself that didn’t include you, and even though I told you I was sorry for it, you still didn’t want anything to do with me after the fact, so there’s no reason to be so mad at me for never contacting because essentially you cut that link off for the both of us , and I strayed away from that because it was clear you didn’t want to fix this so who’s fault is that huh? Obviously not me, because newflash Lance, contrary to popular belief, the world doesn’t revolve around you!!”

Lance rocks in place like he’s been sucker-punched. Eyes the size of miniature sized moons that quake and dim empty after Keith’s mouths run low on fuel with spite. Hunk is quiet over the driver’s side, having given up on saying much after the few couple of failed trials. His head dips and Keith lets the solitude of silence capture his frame with a chest rising in tune like a beaten drum dead of rhythm in its core. 

The level of enmity in the atmosphere around them is suffocating, Keith considers flinging himself out of the car just to get away from it, his fingers tighten over the topside of the window. Silent and baring back against the seat. 

“ Stop the car..” Lance says quietly.

“ Lance come on.. “

Hunk’s fingers halt in their attempt to get their drive going, ignoring any and all plight in the situation as he can muster; trying his best not to sound somber over the aftermath. His voice pleads.

“ Stop.the.car.” Lance repeats, upon the first words he’s already waving them off, sharply turning his head back when the argument begins to water down

But Hunk doesn’t battle anymore with contention, he’s wheezed out, and lets the car slow to a gradual speed by the side of the road near a sidewalk when it’s safe enough to get over. Parking temporary as the car’s engine rumbles and he’s putting it into park; the defeated look of consolation gone within a sad frown as he watches Lance pushing his hands against the doorway of his side to get out, touch ground and start with walking down the street. 

Hunk had hesitated, he bests with” C’mon Lance please, we’re literally just five minutes away from the house,we’re not that far, you don’t need to walk out there. “ But he doesn’t listen, and he’ll be damned with letting them walk out like that while there’s rain coming down in splitters. “ Lance.. Just where are you going?” 

“ Anywhere that gets me as far away from him as possible, I’m down with this…”

To which as a likely response, Hunk gapes while Keith pulls himself backwards in his seat, crossing his arms and turning his eyes elsewhere. He doesn't even bother to look when the door to Lance's side creaks open.

Lance let’s his body linger out, stretching some all the while as the door slams behind him, he’s not really in the mood to worry about the fact that it’s Hunk’s car door he just slammed. And it probably didn’t deserve that, and they definitely didn't deserve to see that messy fiasco to take stage out on the middle of his seat compartment, but certain things just have a way of slipping out of Lance before he even realizes they’re coming out of his mouth, and some things just slipped and he didn’t mean to let that slip but---

 All of this was clearly a mistake. 

He starts walking, and Hunk pulls off volumes of shouts from the short distance, he hasn’t even walked that far for them to start hollering.

“ Lance, come back, you don’t need to walk out in this rain.. it‘s not gonna let up anytime soon, just please get back in the car..” Hunk says over from the car window, it’s rolled down far enough for him to stretch out. “ Buddy come on.”

But Lance doesn't stop walking, he continues, putting his hood up and shoving his hands into his pockets as he does. 

Keith watches from the back, it feels deserving somehow to get that all out in the open again despite it happening in the worst way possible and he couldn’t just stop his mouth from running after that accusation. But Lance is stubborn, much like he is, and he knew this from start, so watching them storm off didn’t really surprised him in the slightest-- he’s done that before too. 

But Hunk doesn’t really sound all that good, He doesn't really deserve to watch this all unfold like that, espcially in the comfort of his own car and Lance can’t just keep walking in this downpour. 

It’s all very much feeling like it’s his fault to conclude this mess,he should do something. 

The knots in his stomach recoil, lips forming a grimace before the palm of his hand starts to take a hold of the door handle as the cool air outside greets him, Keith is loose. 

“ Lance!” He calls from his side of the car, the door still cracked opened slightly as he stands there, body pressed near. 

 

They’re already halfway down the street, pushing the head of their hoodie tigher around their head to lessen the rain spreading washy trails all over their hair. Keith calls for them again, less angry this time and more imperative. “ Lance, come back!”

To his own surprise, they actually do stop, but don’t turn around to meet the voice that called. “ No.”

Keith feels himself grit back a click of scorn, his eyes darkening slightly. “ Just come back, get out of the rain”

“Yeah, you’re gonna make yourself sick.” Hunk adds, “ It’s better if you take the ride home. Come on buddy, I don’t want you catching the flu out here, please...”

“ No!”

Keith sighs with frustated exasperation, his shoes move a step, hand slapping against the car’s hood. “ Lance! Get in the car!” 

 

And just like Hunk, Keith gets nothing, saved for a very small gesture of the “bird” getting flicked his way as Lance walks off. 

At this point, Keith has just about all given up, his body finding a space with the side of the car as he tilts over, lurching. Hunk has a fixated gaze worriedly watching Lance’s retreating figure turns a corner and frowns. settling back into his seat. 

“ Do you want me to go after him?” Keith asks, He notes the way Hunk doesn’t look up, frowns apologetic. 

 

They sit there for a long minute, before Hunk shakes his head. “ No..it’s--it’s okay he knows how to get home from here, I won’t doubt him. This'll... Give him time to have some space for himself to clear his head. We should go home though, it’s getting late.”

 

Keith doesn’t really like the answer, but curtly nods, feeling his stomach somersault as the rock in his throat reforms and clogs the airways as he walks back to his open side, sliding in and melting back with the cushions. He spies for one last time at the space Lance took several minutes ago then flickers his gaze towards the outside--He should have went after him. The ride home is a silent one, met with weary tired eyes and wet sneakers that stumble into the house unfeeling; his shoes skirt across the floorboards and Hunk's body resides a threadbare stick by the walls in the hallway. They don't say a word to each other. Even if Keith wants to apologize, let the word share meaning in his head and off his tongue, the moment doesn't come ; everything is bared loose and untidy as it was an hour late where he's revisiting the fight again and again, feelings of rue sinking deep.

It’s not a good feeling.

\-----------------------------

 

Coming back, they take notice that Lance isn’t home.

Hunk settled with calling his cell just to make sure he was okay while Keith waits by the counter, a glass of juice in his hands shakily unaware of the way his fingers fidget when Hunk tries for the fourth time that night and nobody picks up. 

They’ll wait, because they have nothing better to do but sit around and worry, and Keith doesn’t really enjoy having to think about how the ill effect of the conversation turned tables really quickly, how he stared down at the face of Lance and tore a hole out of them, left it there to fester and rot as old emotions blindly took fold around from out the surface. 

He probably shouldn’t have yelled like that, shouldn’t have gotten angry, but they know how to push buttons, and they were waiting like baited fish for a shark as Keith figures out the lesser mass of it in full later.

He wishes it didn’t happen at all. 

 

When the hour hit around eight, Lance turns up on the doorstep wet. 

Hunk is practically running for him, with arms out to take Lance by the shoulders and rush them in. He’s soaking wet ( just like they predicted.),his clothes tethering to his skin like latex, with bruised puffy lips split at the center from teeth scratching over the surface . To Keith’s own eyes, he looks like an absolute mess. 

Which makes him feel even more guilty about it. 

He doesn’t even come and greet them at the door, stopping at the top of the stairs and just waiting there, as he watches like a spectator as Hunk’s careful hand wipes away something from Lance’s face, and he can’t bare to look on for much longer without wanting to feel awful and half wishing he could say something to ail this awful feeling dragging along in the air.

 

It's a suffocating atmosphere none like the ones Keith used to have before all of this, and maybe what was said shouldn’t have been addressed the way that it was, they could have saved that for any given time at all, any other possible moment where things could have lied down for the better, but it happened then, and Keith doesn’t really feel the resolve part followed suit out of his chest after the fact. 

 

It’s just a skip and beat between finding out the truth and not wanting it to come out this way and he can’t say he wouldn’t want to be out of this place anytime soon, if the offer stilled followed.

It’s a night of grimy messy feelings and lost regretful actions spare blank on a car ride.

It’s an emotional spiral of things taking up a space in chests and withering minds teetering on plagues of blame. 

Keith keeps to himself for the rest of the night and beyond the next two days.

Things just don't seem anymore okay than they used to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me several weeks because I had a lot to revise with it, and look over and redo and so this was 84 years late in the making and my hands hurt. 
> 
> They aren't okay, and but things will get better at a gradual pace.


	5. Here's to hope.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk has a talk with a friend, Lance is bitter, and Keith doesn't really know what to do with himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been 84 years but I finally written it up and I'm pretty proud of it.  
> I've written up three chapters so far so be on the lookout for another update after this.  
> Also I'd like to thank all the people who gave this story kudos and to all the nice comments I've received. It means a lot. And I just never got around to saying anything about it. So I hope you enjoy this.

“ Oh gosh, I don’t know what to say.”

Shay’s voice pulls at Hunk through the veils of static, the phone pressed deep to the side of one ear as he sits by the kitchen table. His fingers idly tap at nothing, moving from one space to another before settling with the handle of the coffee mug he’s got stationed by his side. 

“ I know. I don’t know what to say about it either.” He inputs, shifting his weight in the seat. “It was like a major shift of emotions just started funneling out of nowhere. I don’t even know what happened for it to get that bad. It was terrible.” His voice takes a dip in volume, lowering to a murmur when he lets his fingers fully wrap around his mug to lift to his lips. The taste of bitter coffee greets his tastebuds like a tinge of phenolic warmth rinsing over the share of breakfast he just had over a minute ago.

The morning after the incident was a tough one. Hunk wasn’t even sure he was willing enough to get up out of bed and do much of anything after such a fight. Well, to be fair it couldn’t really have been called that, more like an emotional argument of sorts. That in his eyes he should have seen coming. But the surprise attack of it was just so sudden and out of place, he was left to think the beginnings of their subtle dissent was more or less the spark of the turning point for their small night out.

“ Is Lance okay?” Shay asks, Hunk lets his cup down, taking time to wipe his mouth with a small napkin. 

“ He’s as okay as I think he’ll be. I’m not really sure what’s going on in his head right now, since he isn’t talking to anyone, and he hasn’t said a word to me since that fateful evening so… I can only hope he is.” 

“ You mean he hasn’t told you?” And Hunk can hear a more subtly displaced audible gasp come from the other side of the phone, he lowers his gaze. “ He must really be mad about it then.” 

“ Yeah.” He mutters, more softly this time. He doesn’t think Shay will hear it, but her hearing’s just as good as Lance’s even when he tries. The night of the fateful fight was rough, he had stood at the bottom of the stairs in the middle of the hallway with Lance caught by his shoulders. Searching their face for a sign of sickness but only seeing nothing but a vague look of anger and cheeks riddled wet with tears. The sight before him was enough to make Hunk’s stomach do flips and they stayed in that hallway for what seemed like forever before he was able enough to get a response out of Lance. 

Lance didn’t tell him much, he didn’t tell him where he went. Only that he was tired and wanted to rest and didn’t really feel like dealing with anybody for the rest of the night. To which Hunk understood just fine, he got the idea that Lance was just not in the mood for comfort. And he hoped that later on when the morning came, they would sort this all out like he wanted to before things got even more airy between them and their new roommate. 

He remembered seeing Keith standing at the top of the stairs, watching them like a spectator in his own house. He couldn’t see their face, but the way they never moved to come down stairs the same way he did, made Hunk think that Keith probably didn’t want to aggravate the situation anymore by applying himself between them. The poor boy probably thought it was his fault and didn’t want Lance to see him at such a vulnerable moment like that. Just the thought makes Hunk’s expression churn stony and chert. Troubled with furrowed brows coming together at the scrunched bridge of his nose.

“He was mad, though he didn’t have to tell me to let me know that. I could tell by his face he was still upset, he was even crying some when I got to him. We stood in the hallway for good half hour before i was able to get a word out him and dry him off from the rain. He wasn’t sick after thankfully, but you could tell he wasn’t feeling up for a quick conversation either. It was a bad night for the lot of us.”

 

“ Oh gosh it sounds awful, I don’t even know what I would have done in such a situation like that. Honestly.. That must have been very rough.” Shay says, and her voice pulls to a close soft volume that Hunk can only describe as solemn sympathy for his involvement. 

It doesn’t sound like pity. Though he can’t really tell for sure. Shay’s never been one to disperse it around like she knew better. However he wouldn’t blame her if it was what he thought. 

“ How are you doing after all of that?” 

Hunk lets an exhale of breath levels out from his nose. “ I’ve been better. I can’t really say for sure how i really feel about any of this, it’s only been two days and I’ve yet to even ask about how Keith feels about it. I know he feels the most guilty, the poor guy hasn’t even come out of his room since that night and I don’t see him around as much in the morning. He’s usually the first one up and Lance is...well he left extremely early so I didn’t get the chance to confront him about it. This week might not the be the best and if it keeps up like this, I don’t know what I’m gonna do.” 

“ Well this won’t last forever right?” Shay pipes in. “ I mean of course they’re going to need space and time to come together again and maybe rekindle that friendship they once had. But they’re not gonna be angry towards one another like this all the time. Maybe if they just talk it out some and bring up some the issues they had in the past at a better time than what happened, this could have been avoided? Like after they’ve cooled down and settled into a more comfortable place between one another that’s not as bad as it was first initiated. I don’t know… what do you think? I know Lance, but I don’t know much about this… Keith was it?”

“ Yeah that’s his name.” Hunk says, just as he hears a scuffle of a noise click upstairs, like the shifting thump of feet crossing over the surface of a carpet-- possibly the bathroom. Keith must be up. 

“ I don’t know, It might be a little too early for me to try and get them to say anything to each other. Much less make eye contact. It’s a nice idea but I think I should just let them be before I address anything else. I don’t wanna drag in anymore trouble.”

“Right. I guess that would be for the best. For now of course.”

Hunk lets another breath of air leave him, his fingers on the mug shift from the handle to the table with a swift tap as they dance in fidgets across the surface. In all honesty, he was more or less thinking about doing Shay’s idea at the first line, but after some careful consideration he decided against it. It would be much better for than to work things out on their own terms, not with third party invasion. However the statement of that makes his stomach twist at a nervous turn and keeps his fingers shaky.

From across the table on the left side he can spy the crumbled work of his piece of paper. From the day Keith had arrived and their start of the weekend had started and ended on a tightrope. Walking along the line with a side of caution until failure met their end and they couldn’t cross that bridge. 

Not just yet. They’re gonna need time and lots of it.

He just wishes that night didn’t end the way that it did. 

He stills wonders about the proposal, and still wonders if Lance is even on board with it anymore. Probably not but he hasn’t said a word to Hunk yet so.. How would he know?

 

A throaty annoyed groan answers Shay as Hunk lets a hand drape over his face, stress building up. It’s gonna be a long two weeks. “ Hunk? Are you okay?”

“ Yeah. I’m okay.” He answers, trying to mask his troubles down with a neutral tone, but he doubts Shay will sweep over it without knowing. She’s so intuitive and pedant, he’s always loved that about her. “ Just thinking about some stuff.”

“ That noise didn’t sound very okay.” She says, like Hunk knew she would because nothing really gets past Shay. He wonders if Lance ever gave her lessons on how to read him so well. “ You seem stressed.”

“ I’m fine Shay don’t worry. This thing with me will pass. I’m just having some thoughts about something that’s unfortunately something that’s probably gonna worry me for a while but I will managed through it.” His hand falls short to rest and hang by the edge of his chair as he sits back. Head looking up towards the clock on the wall. “ I’m gonna be okay.”

“ Well if you say so. You’ve got enough on your plate to handle already, the last things you would need is to put more stress onto yourself. I don’t want to have to worry for your sake too.. Even though I kinda do.” 

“ Aww Shay..” Hunk cracks a smile, it’s the first thing this morning that’s gotten a good rise out of him, and he’s little more thankful for it. “ You don’t need to worry about me It’s nothing too bad. Like I said this thing with me will pass.” He catches the handle of his mug with two fingers and a thumb, pulling it up to his lips for another sip. “ Besides I’ve already got two roommates to worry about and figure something out with anyways. That’s my main priority.”

She chuckles, the noise of it lifting volumes through the phone’s tinny static. “ Of course. Well I’m hoping that things get better for the three of you. I would hate to hear anymore bad news considering this is just your first piece of trouble. And of this Keith that seems nice from what you’ve told me about them.” 

“ Yeah, I hope so too...Ah listen Shay, I gotta hightail it out of here in a few. Work hours are coming up. We can talk at a later time? Like tonight maybe?” He says, eyes shifting to the clock again and getting ready to move out of his seat. He’s gonna need to retrieve his keys and bag. 

“ Uh sure, that seems fine. I gotta catch up on some homework anyways.” 

“ Great. Talk to ya later then.” He says, and then stops just as he pulls from out of his seat, still clutching the phone. “Oh and uh thank for chatting up with me about this. After Saturday night and through most of yesterday, I needed someone to help me clear up my mind on some things. You were real helpful and I gotta tell you how much I appreciated this. “

Shay laughs, Hunk can just picture the smile on her face. “ Of course Hunk, you’re always welcome to talk to me about anything. I’m always an open ear for you. No matter what.” 

“ And I the same for you.” He ends with a smile crossing his. Pushing his chair in as he goes to make way for the hallway. “ Hope your day goes great Shay and take care.”

“ You too Hunk. Bye.”

And the call ends with a beep, his fingers pressed to the red call sign as he looks down at it with a leveled feeling of relief washing over him. It was true, he really needed that and the talk went just as well as he had thinly expected it. At first, he didn’t really think it was good idea to bring others into the mix by telling them, and the phone call itself took about five different calls to which he ended them just as quickly as he started them unsure of whether it was right to. He was just as much involved in this as the other two now. 

It didn’t seem like something he felt fully involved with, but with how Lance was that night and the distant sting of sour air hanging among them like this, it was clear that something had to be done before it got to be too suffocating to handle anymore. And Hunk didn’t think he would be ready for things to go down that route. 

As he grabs for his keys and tucks some things into his bag, he starts to doubt if waiting for them to come around and talk about it would be effective at all. Keith and Lance didn’t really seem like they were in any kind of mood to rekindle much of anything when they first met, and Keith had just been as confused more about the situation than as he was just arriving. 

Something had to be done. He just needs to know what. 

As he leaves, Shay’s words pull at a knot in his brain, careful, subtle and repeating. It beams like a shadow of hope over the winding swirls of doubt he’s collected, pouring out through the curtains of his subconsciousness and as he leaves for the door and looks back to the top of the stairs-- the place where Keith once stood from the night he held Lance together in the hallway, something like worry and assurance burns through the expression on his face. 

 

He’s hoping things will get better.  
\-------------------------------------  
“ Lance could you stop pacing around like that and help me?” 

Pidge grumbles from around the boxes she has in her hands as she stops to watch Lance pace back and forth from the counters to the coffee makers that have yet to be heated up for the afternoon commute. His face a look of bemused irritation and a hard flat line paired to his lips as his legs carry him back and forth with haste in every step.

“ Ugh. I’m not in the mood right now..”

“ Excuse me?” Her brow quirks up at his response, arms started to slightly shake under the heavy weights as she stares at him. “ You’re kidding me right?” 

Lance twists mid pivot from the counter, a tired annoyed look etches it way to Pidge’s confused one.“ No I’m not actually. Can’t you tell? I am not in any mood right now to be moving around boxes or doing anything for the moment. Especially when I’m trying to cure a serious headache.”

“ By pacing about the counters and percolators?” Pidge snorts, giving him an even weirder look. “ No offense, but I don’t think you’re gonna be curing much of anything by doing that. Pacing’s a pretty ill-effective way of getting rid of headaches last I checked so that excuse is complete crap. Wanna try again?” 

Lance doesn’t even bother playing along, the only thing to emit from him is a strained groan that pulls with his expression as two fingers pinch the bridge of his nose almost irately. “ Look Pidge..” he starts, each word carefully uttered from his mouth like pulled teeth. “I get that it’s a bit busy for you without some help, and I would love to but for right now I just need a little time to myself to work off something so forgive me for being a bit crabby but I do mean it when I say to you that I’m. not. In. the. Mood.”

And she stands there for a good few seconds, overlooking his figure before blinking once unimpressed. “ Yeah I can tell. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know when you’re in a mood Lance. Could’ve figured that one out myself but thanks for the heads up.” 

He sighs, seemingly given up as his body pulls backwards to catch the station where the machines hum and oscillate into the walls and against the polished steel of the counter. He lets a hand drape over his face that from the position he’s in, looks to be at best comical to those who didn’t know the situation. 

Pidge from where she’s at, only seems to offer a small look of concern, putting the boxes down by the floor as her body leans against the steel. An elbow for a crutch as her hand tucks under her chin, eyeing Lance with thought. “ Did you not catch enough sleep last night? Woke up late or something?”

“ No.” he mutters underneath his palm, slouching more. “ It’s not that. I slept fine, and woke up early.” 

“ So then what is it?” She asks, “ Because I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this mad about anything before in my life. And I’ve known you for quite some time so this type of mood from you is very surprising. And odd..Did something happen?”

Lance doesn’t bring up a response, his mind and eyes held somewhere with the floor as he watches the light upon the tiles of a overheard swinging lamp shift and dance around the corners. He doesn’t want to answer that question, not right when he’s still nursing the effects of a nasty migraine and a few unfixed holes of hurt swallowing up the berth of his chest. The memories of it however hard they are to escape, hadn’t left him since the night he let down to bed after and almost crushed himself against the brash iron of self depreciating thoughts and untethered watered down feelings rushing up to resurface and clog every inch of his head and mind and body as he soundlessly slept.

He doesn’t look up until Pidge is standing right in front of him, snapping her fingers like she’s trying to get a hold of something’s attention- or drawing it. It takes a second or so before he even realizes it’s him she’s trying to address, concern fixated in her eyes beneath the glint of her glasses. 

“ Lance.. Hey, are you okay?”

He shifts, nodding swiftly. “ Huh? Oh yeah I’m fine. I’m good.” He waves them off, trying to disperse any thoughts of last night from his mind. If he was letting it get to him this badly, it must be showing well on his face. He needs to hide it. 

But Pidge catches him first, by the arm as he lets it down. “ Lance I’m serious.. What’s going on?” 

“ It’s nothing--”

“ Bullshit it’s nothing, you don’t act like this for no reason, not even for a small headache. Something’s is clearly up and I can tell.”

“ You must be seeing things.” 

“ Lance.” Pidge sighs, with a facial expression Lance has seen all before and remembered as the face of _“ You must take me for a idiot or something, really I’m not that oblivious.”_ Like she doesn’t know that much better of him. It makes him gulp back a hard rock stuck in his throat. “ I know we don’t see much of each other outside of this establishment because of differing schools and home, but I know you well enough to know when you’re lying. And when you try to hide things because you get this look in your eyes that’s distant and sad. It might work on other people, but it sure as peaches doesn’t work on me. Okay?”

At the end of it, her face begins to soften up, the hard lines in her stare fading away gradually with weight to her brows as they loosen up. Lance says nothing, seemingly lost for words at the moment. “ Now are you gonna tell me who decided to be a dick and take a shit in your cheerios this morning? Or do I need to track them down myself.”

They stare at each other until Lance gives in, because he always been the less stubborn of the two. And Pidge could always prove a point any way that she wanted so trying to conceal anything was just as redundant as it was keeping his emotions under wraps around others. He looks away, staring at the walls and watching his other associates take care of some customers out in the front then peer back to Pidge.

“Okay, I’ll tell you something. But it’s not gonna be much. I don’t really wanna get into it too much I...uh.” He stops, licking the bottom half of his lips in thought. 

“ You don’t need to tell me everything.” Pidge adds, “ Just enough to understand what happened. I’m not gonna push for too much.”

“ I know. It’s just I’m trying to elaborated it out in a way that’s not too much. It happened two nights after..our new roommate came in.”

“ You actually got one? Oh! Was it that one guy that walked into the shop early in the week?” 

“Yeah we got one…” Lance says, but blinks after he hears Pidge, a look of confusion. “ Wait what? What guy?” 

“ There was this one mullet haired guy that came in earlier in the week when I was serving and taking orders at the front.” She explains. “He looked fairly new, like he just got here and I had never seen him before so I suspected he was a new student. I never caught his name though.” 

Lance turns to her, eyes wide. His mouth agape, before shaking his head to ring out the shock as he stands straight up from leaning over his spot by the counters. “ Wait, you’ve already met Keith?! Like you’ve talked to him?!” 

“ Keith? That’s his name?” She says, “Well I think I have, I saw him take down Hunk’s ad so I suggested to him if he was interested in looking into places to stay. So you’re saying he’s actually your roommate? That’s great!”

Lance makes a face. “ Ugh yeah sure it was great, went as well as terrific until Saturday night.”

“ Well what happened?” 

He doesn't answer her right away, silent for a few seconds. “ Last Saturday night we went out to the movies, and it was okay for a little bit but.. me and Keith got into a little argument that didn’t end well and I ended up storming out of the car upset..” 

He doesn’t see the look on Pidge’s face from where his head is turned, but he doesn’t need to because from the corners of his eye he can tell she’s visibly shocked. “ What? Why?”

“ Because I knew Keith. He was an old friend of mine that I knew when I was younger. Well before I met either you or Hunk, and it has been a couple of years since I had seen him. But he ditched out on me before he left and we never really stayed in touch much after the fact so.. I was pretty bitter about seeing him again.”

“ Oh.” Pidge says, looking downcast. “ I didn’t know that. I didn’t know that you and him were… that close or knew each other that.”

“ Yeah well..” Lance sighs, craning his neck up to look over the swinging lights. “ I wouldn’t have expected you to know, considering I don’t really talk about him very much. I mean Hunk didn’t even know about Keith so, it’s not just you.”

“ That’s sounds like it was rough for you.” She gets off of her side of the counter, looking Lance over and he tries not to look anywhere for sign of pity on her face as his eyes cast from lamps to her again. “ Was it really that bad?”

“ Oh you have no idea..” It was an uneasy night, and he’d be damned with trying to deny he didn’t at least burn a hole into the clock’s digital visage in the same hours he cried about it next to Hunk in the hallway. The moment he set foot outside of the car and stormed off felt like the world around them had shattered. Into a million pieces as time stood still and he had only walked about a couple steps ahead of some couple behind him before his name had gotten called and he didn’t want to turn around. Didn’t want to look at their faces--look at Keith’s face without wanting to…

Scream? Cry? He didn’t know. But what he did know was that it hurt a lot. And there was no way he was going to sit through the rest of the trip in that car after something like that so, it was only natural to want to get out of there before he suffocated on the dense after effects of it right? 

It seemed right. 

Pidge puts on a face, her nose scrunches up as her mouth wiggled from the side to side, contemplating something carefully. “ He didn’t seem like such a bad guy when I first talked to him. He was actually pretty nice and seemed kinda shy. Didn’t really detect anything off about him personality wise…”

Lance makes a noise akin to a scoff. “ Yeah well you don’t know Keith. Not like me, and just like I told Hunk, it was a bad idea to let him stay there with us. Obviously we weren’t going to get along as fully expected by yours truly.”

“Wait so because you two had one fight, you don’t think he should bunk with you?” Pidge looks up, the scrutiny in her eyes makes Lance’s mouth clam shut. 

“ It’s not just that..” 

“But that’s what it sounds like. I mean you and a friend get into one little argument after not seeing each other for a long time. You don’t wanna bring him up and then he’s back here again with you..”

“ Keith and I are not friends.” Lance states, giving her a look. “ Not anymore.”

“ Well “old friends” I guess. but even still you how do you know he hasn’t changed? How do you know that this isn’t a course for something good to come back into your life? Like it can’t a coincidence can it? Maybe this could be a way for you and him to resolve some things.”

And it’s Lance’s turn to pull a confused look, shifting up from his side of the counter. “ What? Resolve what? He's the one who left me! I’m not the one that decided it would be cool to take off and leave behind their only friend--” He stops, a finger pointed out at Pidge before catching himself and pulling back, realizing his words. 

Pidge looks wide eyed from behind her glasses, mouth open slightly as if she was about say something but then closes it. Sharing a look of remorse. “ Lance..” 

“ No.” He stops her, waving it off and dismissing it. “It’s okay, I just. I let that blurt out and it was unnecessary and really bad of me. Sorry.” 

“ Don’t apologize.” She softly replies “ It’s okay to be mad about some things. I’m not gonna rag on you for it. But I just think that maybe you should give this thing a chance, like give it some time and see what happens from there. I don’t know..” She gives him a pat on the back, staring back to the boxes. “ Like I’m not saying you should force yourself to resolve anything with him, that’s up to you. But it’s a small thought to take in.” 

And he laughs under his breath like the statement is funny, to which it was because he remembers hearing the exact same sentiment come from Hunk two days before the car argument. It makes him smile thin, for just a second he almost lets it show. “Yeah well one can only hope right? Not that I'd expect him to initiate anything but I don't know if I should either.”

“One can only..” Pidge agrees, a faint smile tugs at her lips gently. “Course we’ll just have to see anyway and by that I mean you and your roommates.” 

“Well he’s already got one strike down on his card so we’ll how this week fares.” Lance moves to finally stretch his arms high over his head making way for the front room. “ If anyone’s going to resolve anything it’s gonna be him, I’m not gonna throw myself under the bus for it, this is on him.” 

“ You say that like it’s his fault entirely..” Pidge points out, she leaves the counter but doesn’t follow behind Lance, sticking close to the boxes and bending down to grab at one. “ I feel like there’s more to the story.” 

Lance pauses. “What? Of course not! Keith knows what he did, and if he wanted to, he would have resolved it already, but he didn’t. So what am I supposed to do?” 

“ I don’t know.” Pidge says, hands full with boxes as she moves backwards towards another room with a narrow hallway. “ You’ve only been with him one week. Maybe he’ll surprise you.” 

He’s not at all impressed with the statement, seemingly brushing it off and walking out the back to the front of the registers where his other co-workers were cleaning up the counters. Somewhat put off by it in a way that stuck with him for the rest of his time working until the late closing hours of six. 

Lance didn’t want to admit to much, upon the conversation he knew that he was lying through the end of it. Some parts of it weren’t all that much true especially on his end considering the things Keith had said to him in the car. All the little words coming together like a wall of inconsistency between each other’s lives. He doesn’t know a single thing about what Keith’s was like when he left and he highly doubts he will ever get know now. Lance just didn’t want much of the blame to fall on him. It wasn’t like they could just make talk with each other as much as they wanted to, and after something like that..Lance already had his thoughts about Keith reconsidered.

It’s just not going to be easy. But like Pidge’s words, it’s only been one week.  
One week and they’re already an ignoble mess. 

He makes his way to the car, his bookbag in one hand with his keys out in the other, sneakers skirting across asphalt and a dirty stray disposable cup before he reaches the door and gets in. 

Pidge’s words stick like a hangnail on his thoughts as he tries to start the engine and cranks the radio on. He catches himself tuning to a song he knows just off the top of his head and the words stumble after. It’s a nice distraction. 

But it’s not enough to put his hands to rest, they’re digging into the back pocket of his jeans, pulling out his phone before he even has time to blink, before he can even stop himself. And he scrolls through his contacts till a name is displayed on his screen in brightly lit letters. He hesitates. 

Keith. 

It feels weird to have his name still built into the confines of his contact list. Even after all these years have past and he never once got rid of it. He’s not even sure if Keith even still has the same phone number, they might’ve gotten a different one, who really knew. The only way to know for sure was to call but that’s where he stops himself. And a sigh breaks out from his chest, breathing out with indecisiveness pulling strings at his fingertips. 

It’s only been two days. That’s not nearly enough time is it? 

Lance swears under his breath as the phone is tossed loosely into the passenger seat. His hand hits the steering wheel as the other cranks up the volume and he parrots out the words as he drives out of the parking lot. Trying his best to put on a neutral face as he heads home, his thoughts are pushed to the back burners, for now he just wants some time to shred it all off. 

This can wait for another day when he’s ready.  
\-------------------------  
Keith really doesn’t know what to do with himself. 

It’s been two days since the incident and he has yet to really wrap his head around the issues. Mentally and physically angry at himself by the after effects of it as he sits down on a bench outside the house. His phone clutched in one hand with a message half typed out. If he weren’t so unfamiliar with his surroundings and mental map of the cityscape, he would have went for a walk, a really long one, just to work off the stress. 

But he didn’t and chose to stay locked up in his room for the time being until he felt like rinsing himself off from staying cooped up in his room for too long in a lonely space. 

He’s not sure what it is, but just the memory of the night alone is enough to him to make him rethink all of what he said, still drenched from the afterglow and watching Lance come apart at the seams when their eyes met in the car, after he yelled, cause a piece of himself to come a loose and undone. 

It didn’t show very much as his anger, just a tiny veil of it covering only a portion of the surface, he didn’t even think it was there when he felt it but it’s present now, a lot more than it should be and for some other inexplicable reason, he hates it. 

He sits and watches some of the clouds in the sky shift and change shapes every few minutes. Watches as several cars rolled by and some joggers, till he grew bored of looking at the same scenery and took time to write out a few words to Shiro, who has yet to get back to him. 

Eventually he sits back with his phone now laid between the space of his legs, sighing out loud. Replaying some of the night has kept him busy with respite creeping over his shoulders. It’s like several different snapshots flickering in and out at different points, at different times and he remembers staying locked up in his room the next day, not coming out unless it was for bathroom breaks or to go for a long walk around the neighborhood while nobody was around the house. 

Somehow he felt bad even now for sneaking out just to escape, but at the same time he felt like sticking around and making his presence known would set ablaze a whole new kinda argument that he wouldn’t be ready for. And just on the notion that Lance wouldn’t have wanted to see him just yet, they haven’t spoken a word to each other since then. Keith had all the time in the world that night and the one after to feel guilty. The feeling itself hasn’t gone away, it’ll linger for as long as he lets it,which to him is probably going to be a long time.

But at the same time, it feels like it was a long time coming.

Keith feels the phone in his lap vibrate. Tearing his eyes away from a little bird’s nest in a tree to it in an instant as a hand grabs for it. It’s a message from the Big bro, reading as lit. 

_I’m sorry to hear about that :( Are you okay?_

And Keith doesn’t waste any time typing back a small ‘yeah’ before turning the phone off again, slightly disappointed. He feels the sentiment, but not really much of it gets to him. 

He doesn’t really think Shiro understands the true situation, there wasn’t much information exchanged other than a ‘we had a fight’ and ‘I totally screwed up big time with an old pal.’ Erasing the pal part because he doesn’t even think he can used that word lightly with Lance anymore. And he doesn’t think Lance would appreciate it either given the broken status of their already strained relationship. It almost hurts but as he really thinks about it, it was probably a long time coming. 

It’s just all a more strange coincidence that they’d be paired like this all over again. Here at the start where they grew up and here at the end where he left and didn’t even bother with a call, like he knew the friendship was over before he could even acknowledge it gone. Everything about it hurts and Keith has no idea or any way of knowing where to go from there. Or what to do after that. 

He’s just stuck. 

His phone vibrates again just as a car rolls into the driveway. Keith doesn’t even need to look to know who it is. So instead of looking up, he decides to bring his attention back to the phone, disinterested. His fingers tapping at a much slower speed as the car parks and he hears the engines shut off and a door click open. 

Shiro texts him.

_Okay, I’m just making sure. That sounds rough but I hope you’re doing alright.  
Did you apologize?_

Keith squints at the message, staring at it slightly confused. Of course he did, though he sorta yelled it out, and it didn’t really come off as an actual genuine apology. Lance didn’t even take it. 

He’s about to type something out when he hears the car beep, and spies Lance coming around the driver side. His eyes lift up. Speak of the devil….

Lance looks calm when he walks up, keys jiggling from his hip and a backpack slung over one shoulder. Keith pauses from his tiny message rant to close out of the text app, averting his gaze and checking his emails instead. He’s actually got somewhere to be soon about something he’s been waiting for since he first got here. 

As he does so, he can hear Lance make his way towards the doorstep, waiting for them do what they’ve been doing since he first arrived here-- just ignore and move on. After Saturday they have all the more reason to and Keith can’t say he would blame them. 

He’s reading over the email when he hears their shoes stop and feels a pair of eyes on him, no jiggle of the keys, no unlocking of the door's mechanism coming undone, it’s just silence. He almost doesn’t want to look up. 

“What are you doing out here?”

Keith, after a few seconds of coursing himself to force a glance, looks upon a tired Lance, with his hand held partially out with keys and the other holding on to the arm of the backpack. The look on his face is unreadable, something Keith can’t seem to decipher, and that scares him a little bit because he can’t tell what it is they’re thinking or what emotion is it they’re trying to channel forward towards him. Something strained with judgement and a pair of furrowed brows knitted together, his lips morphed flat. Keith opens his mouth. 

“Waiting for something.” 

Lance squints, it’s a vague look. “ Waiting for what?”

“ For Hunk to get home so I can borrow his car. I’m about to grab something from a local garage that just got here.” Keith states. 

He watches Lance shift from foot to foot, looking awkward, his gaze moves. “Grab what?”

Keith pauses than spouts. “ My cycle.” 

At this, Lance actually looks up, his otherwise neutral expression sparks from something droll to a moment of confusion. “ Wait what? A cycle? Like a motorcycle?”

Keith blinks at the sudden interest, it’s the first he's ever seen of Lance speak to him this week. He answers slow, his own tone becoming awkward. “ Uh.. yeah a motorcycle. Or a bike if you wanna get technical…” 

“What? Since when?”

He shrugs, “ Since a while ago. I’ve only had it for two years, and I brought it here because I thought it would come in handy for me job wise so I at least have a means of transportation that doesn’t rely on borrowing from others.” His shoulders roll back as he scoots further into the bench, turning his head away. “ Is.. that so surprising?”

“ Uh yeah? Of course it is.” Lance sputters, his one hand with the keys flings out, giving Keith a look. “ I had no idea you could ride one, much less own one for yourself, that’s like huge news to me. Like why on earth wouldn’t it be?”

 _Because it really isn’t_ , Keith thinks, and he lets a sigh pull from his lips as he pockets his phone, shutting it off. He tries not to dig a hole into Lance’s words anymore than he already has, there’s something vaguely ironic about it but he won’t say it. The last things they need is another argument, and Lance seems like he’s in a sorta good mood so why try to ruin it. 

He prepares to get up out of his seat, turning away just as his eyes search the driveway. “ Yeah well there’s a lot of things you didn’t know about me.” 

Keith doesn’t see it, but Lance’s reaction to that statement shrinks in volume. His shoulders slumping slightly as a pained look crosses over his features as he looks to the floor. “ Yeah, apparently…”

Hunk isn’t really here yet, but the time is getting late and Keith doesn’t really want to wait another day to get his bike here. If any of the jobs he’s applied for start to call in, he’s gonna need it now and it’s already been a week. 

He starts heading towards the grass when he hears Lance follow suit. “ Hey where are you going?” 

Keith stops short, but doesn’t bother facing Lance. He gets the feeling this conversation’s has met its due and was ready to make a call to Hunk. “ To the workshop. I’m gonna call Hunk in a few seconds, see how far he is on the road, so I can ask if he can take me there real quick.”

Getting the number is easy since the last few calls have only been to two people and his fingers press over the button before putting it to his ear, waiting around while Lance shifts his weight in the background. Keith wonders why the hell they haven’t gone into the house yet, don’t they have other things to be doing? He doubts they want to spend anymore time around him. 

And yet Lance stands there, bag half off his shoulders and mouth parted slightly as his mind shifts gears and he looks up back at Keith before wetting his bottom lip hesitantly. 

“ Why Hunk?” 

Keith pauses mid call, the question catching him off guard as he swivels around slowly to meet eyes with Lance. The phone still raise to his ear. He fixes them a quizzical look. “What?” 

Lance looks as if he had made a mistake, like those words weren’t the ones he was choosing to let out at first, shifting his gaze from across the yard and back to Keith. “ I said, why are you asking Hunk?”

“ You’re kidding me right?” Keith says, “After what we both said to each other two days ago, and the awkward silence that we’ve put between each other. You’re really gonna ask me why I’m only speaking to him?” 

Okay so he should have expected that, Lance should have known better, the thought just didn’t cross his mind at all. “ I know that.” He grits out. “ I’m just asking for why you’re calling him about it.”

“ Because unlike you, Hunk isn’t the one pissed off at me right now and I would have preferred to just ask him instead of bothering someone else about transportation while simultaneously not pissing said person off anymore with my presence.” Keith fully turns himself away, dialing for a second try as he tries to not to overlook the sad expression Lance’s pulls. “ Besides I thought we weren’t on speaking terms anymore.What happened to that?”

Lance doesn’t have a word for it, shutting his mouth. Before opening it again and then closing it as he realizes he doesn’t have a good reason suitable enough for an answer. It was true that they weren’t on speaking terms, as silently declared by both the night they came home at separate times and stayed well within their rights not to say a word to each other for however they chose not to. And there was really no need for him to be asking something like that, the answer is obvious--They’re not friends. 

“ Well he’s obviously not here.” Lance tries, one of his hands coming up to grasp the pack handle that’s gradually slipping off his shoulder. “And is probably busy. So calling him right now is kinda useless considering he keeps his phone on silent and is probably still at work.”

“ Probably..” Keith reiterates, but doesn’t put down the phone. “But who really knows that?”

“ I do.” Lance comes up behind Keith as his back is turned, to sweep around the side and twist in front of them until he’s about a step away from the other’s face. Hands held to his hips with a frown. “ And I think you should stop calling his cell so much. If he hasn’t picked up the first two times, he’s working and isn’t available to you.”

Keith blinks and steps back, almost taken off guard by how fast Lance had moved from behind to in front of him in such short time. The warning in their voice faint, but it doesn’t deter him from putting away the phone. At most, the device is pulled away from his ear, mimicking the same frown. 

The action itself must have not been enough for Lance, because the frown on his face deepens into something more strict and his arm tries to reach out to swipe the phone out of Keith’s hands.“ Don’t call him anymore, cut the guy a break.”

Keith immediately after seeing them reach out, pulls his hand with the phone backwards, out of reach. “Don’t touch my phone, and why shouldn’t I?” 

“ Because I said he was probably busy..” Lance starts, pausing in his action. “ Hunk’s just like me, a college student with a big schedule and even bigger work schedule. He does a lot of things during the week and can’t always get to his cell on time because of it. We’re not always available at the drop of a hat, and we can’t always be home at reasonable times. It’s just how it is.” He lets his hand come back to his side, easing backwards as he does. “ You understand? Or do I need to go into some long explanation about how our time schedules work.”

A part of Keith wanted to be stubborn and say different, say that he knew better, to say that he knew but that in itself would have been a lie. Truthfully speaking, he never really got a hold of Hunk’s or Lance’s schedules to know when was and when wasn’t an available time. Lance should really cut him some slack, but he would bet money that Lance would have told him this regardless of whether they were on good terms or not. So he lets his phone slip back into the pocket of his jeans, gradually pulling a face of subtle rout. “ So what am I supposed to do then?” 

Lance says nothing at first, seemingly grasping for something to add, his hands coming up to rub at his arms. It’ll be a minute or so of standing there with each other’s eyes closeted to a space at the floor before Keith hears Lance ask. “What is the name of the place your bike is being worked on at?”

Keith at the question squints some, not understanding as it comes in out of nowhere. However Lance doesn’t catch the confusion and cuts through it with a tired sigh. He’s pulling out his own phone from the pocket of his backpack, tapping into it and reiterates his question. “ What place is your bike at? Like what’s the name of it, there’s a couple of mechanic shops all around here, some are far and some are close by. You have a name of one?” 

Oh, Keith thinks. “ Yeah I’ve got it. It’s stationed at a place called The Carbon Hood. Shiro shipped it over and it came about yesterday, and I sent it there to get it fixed up with the rest of my money to make sure it was okay.”

As he says this, Lance’s fingers busy with the phone, typing it into the search engines for any information on the location. It takes about five seconds and when he’s done, his eyes lift up to glance at Keith. A small noise emitted from his lips. “ Huh, what do you know, this place isn’t very far.  
“ It isn’t?” 

“ Nope it’s not, it’s about a half block away from here, just a little’s way near the boardwalk and by the old mailing station... not too bad but I don’t see why we would need the car for it.”

To his own surprise, Keith really didn’t know that. He knew that the place was nearby and not too far away from where he stayed. Taking a small trip there had made things easy but he didn’t really pay much attention to his surroundings when approaching it or the mile radius between the time it took to get there. He’s still confused about the car part though. “ Why don’t we need to take a car?” 

Lance stops typing and gives Keith a small glance from his screen. “ Because we could totally walk there? And taking a car would seem kinda unnecessary considering we would have two different versions of transportation. Plus my car wouldn’t have enough room to put it anywhere so….”

Oh, he thinks, right. That makes sense. 

His hand comes up to rub at the back of his neck, seemingly unsure of what to do or what to say after receiving the information. Lance puts away his phone, strapping one of the handles of his backpack onto his shoulders. When they don’t say anything after a couple of minutes, Lance pipes in. 

“ C’mon, let’s go get it.”

And Keith has to hear that again, because the statement of it catches him so off guard he thinks he might’ve misheard. “ What?”

Lance cranes his neck up to the sky, the tired look he once had when Keith had seen him walk out of his car and come up to greet him at the doorstep returns twice as vigorous. “Oh my goodness, I said let’s go get your bike. We can walk there before the shop closes and ride back. It won’t be so difficult as it will be taking my car there than it will be just getting there by foot. We have enough time to, if Google’s right, the place doesn’t close for another three hours.” 

Conversational whiplash is the appropriate term. Keith blinks a couple more times. “ What?”

“ We’re going to the shop, together.” Lance asserts, and they stare back at each other for a second, both refusing to move until Lance gives first and starts walking down the sidewalk. His backpack handle clutched in one hand as he looks back to see if Keith was following. “ Dude come on.”

“ Hold on.” Keith sputters, trying to understand what the hell just happened and how in the hell their conversation went from this to that. “ You’re actually helping me go get my bike? Like actually accompanying me?” 

Lance raises a brow, turning slightly. “ Uh yeah? I think that’s just what I said..? Is that a problem?”

 _Uh yeah! Aren’t you mad at me? Aren’t we supposed to not be on speaking terms?_ Keith wants to say, but his mouth clamps shut and his words have caught a knot on his tongue so the questions don’t arise at all. Befuddled by this strange turn of events. So instead of asking the first question that popped into his head, he asks. “ Why?”

And Lance pulls a look, rolling his eyes. He turns around fully enough as his hand drops to his side again. If Keith didn’t know any better, he would have thought he had fucked up somehow just by reading over the expression of it, and the feeling of it is so surreal, he actually bites down on his tongue. “ Keith, come on. How long has it been since you’ve last lived here?” 

He shifts his weight from foot to foot, looking elsewhere as his brain racks for the answer. “ About five years…”

“ Yeah, five years.” Lance acknowledges with a nod. “ And those years can go by in a flash, but you had to have realized by now that a lot of stuff around here has changed right? Like the placement of buildings are different, the streets are different, new places have popped up..” He goes on like he’s going down a list, going over it carefully as he continues. “ It’s easy to get lost around here if you don’t know your way. And even though you’ve been walking around here for a while, I highly doubt you know every route into town. I know a couples of ways around, I can show you them. It’s only being helpful, and it could be super beneficial to you if you decide to go down one street and find a way back down a different route.” 

“ I mean..” Lance drags a hand over his face, wiping at his cheeks and over his eyes as he glances back towards the house. “Hunk isn’t here right now, he’s got night classes. And nobody else lives here so unless you were opting to ask some stranger…” Lance looks to Keith, his arms pulling down to pat at his sides as he eyes them with a tired frown. “ All you’ve got is me.” 

Keith stands stock still as he hears it, taken back by the words. It leaves him without much to say and without a thought to process in his head. Lance was offering to spend time with him in a sense, to help him get something for his troubles. Blinking, he thinks, might help him deter the illusion, but so far nothing is making it known to him that’s Lance was being lying. 

He must be telling the truth. Holy shit. 

Lance stays where he is, the awkward silence falling between them as he waits. Some of the way Keith’s breathing stops at a skip from Lance’s words must show on his face because Lance waves with an air of fake nonchalance. “ I mean that is if you don’t want to, which is totally cool with me.”

“No no.” Keith says, almost on instant. “ It’s..It’s fine. We can go together. I don’t mind.”

At the reply Lance doesn’t wait, he swans forwards down the sidewalk, walking ahead as Keith follows and hesitantly trails beside them. They don’t say much, Keith can’t say there was much to be said about any of it.

If he doesn’t squint too much, it almost looks like progress. 

But one can only hope.


	6. Somewhere Inbetween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith gets his bike and the time with Lance is unexpected

The walk to the garage was anything less than exciting.

Keith shouldn’t be so surprised by how short the walk was, as they turned down several shops and pushed through alleyways that lead them to it in short of just an hour. The route they took wasn’t so complicated either as he had predicted it to be. 

The walk itself was however much he expected, a quiet one. Keith could take note of that being the most prominent attribute of the entire trip there. During which he took time to make a mental account of the route itself and its buildings for later. Lance, the whole time never said anything, always trailing somewhat ahead as they headed down a long strip of sidewalk, through a particular alleyway with tall buildings towering on both ends, that soon lead off to them reaching an intersection of a street with a crosswalk leading left towards their destination. 

 

It felt odd, having nothing to say, like the two were strangers once again and the talk they had moments before they sped on their way towards this shop never happened at all. Odd enough, Keith wished he could say something to mend the break of silence. But so far nothing comes to his head quick enough and the look on Lance’s face leaves him struck with coming against a word to offer at all. Truth be told, he actually enjoyed the talk. 

It may had not been a lot, and maybe some of the words they’ve left behind were driven with strain and dusted with subtle bits of dry contempt, but at least it was something, and Keith all that time, during the walk and so on when they make it to the shop and entered through its doors, had been trying to come up with ways to bring up something else. Something that wasn’t met with the same things, an easy kinda talk. A kind he could handle and a kind maybe even Lance could benefit from. 

 

His thoughts are pushed away at the sight and smells of metal and grease. As they reach a counter, the man behind it at the moment seemed busy talking on the phone, so they stray off towards the right side corner of the room near a few lined up chairs that lean off to the side. The shop itself, despite its smaller exterior, is pretty spacious on the inside. Keith has only been in here once, but he never had the time to really get a look around at the surroundings of the building. The room is seated to look like a waiting space, with chairs on both sides of the room lined stagnant and near two quietly volumed TVs and the guttural noise of tools and drills being used in a nearby workshop garage neighboring its white painted walls. 

Lance stands awkwardly nearby, not saying anything at all, save for taking short glances at his phone and tapping in what Keith thinks are messages to people he’s sure he doesn’t know about. Could be Hunk though, but it could be just about anyone, he doesn’t know and he’s sure he doesn’t really have the guts right now to lean over and ask. The silence between them has staggered on for so long, Keith thinks the air around them is in pause while the world spins and buckles fast into motion, unbeknownst to the two’s ill-conceived problems. 

If Keith could count the amount of times he could’ve entered out of this compressive glass wall of silence, spoke up, or said anything to impede its grasp on the both of them completely as of now, he would have counted about twenty times over what he initially thought. From the moment they left the house, to the short walk through the alleyways, and down past the mailing office, past the intersection and onward towards the crosswalk, Keith had ideas. 

He had some ways to come up with a conversation, something to ease them both into it without fear of messing up and having to start all over again. He had options, he had topics, but the more he thinks on them in scrutiny, the more he bothers with the options and the way things could pan out if he went this way or that way, the less confident he felt in actually trying to initiate it than he was to gathering all that together. 

So theoretically speaking, he had three options. 

1)Try to speak and initiate something that could bend the silence flat between them and fail miserably at articulating his words in a way that doesn’t motivate Lance. 

2)Try to speak and say something that benefits both by willing away the silence and getting Lance to say something, albeit this option works even better if it keeps Lance talking and they’re okay for now. Or….

3)Don’t speak at all, and keep the silence there because Keith, as honest as he is to himself, doesn’t really think either options will work and Lance won’t want to talk just because he chooses not to, and trying anything at all would seems like a waste to either party as the awkward silence pulls the curtains over them once again and they’re left with nothing. 

So in theory at this point, he’s stuck in option three.

 

It sucks because he has but a million things that he wants to say to Lance, that he hopes isn’t overstepping boundaries or causing a fuss. The little talk they had was enough to reinvigorate his mind a little bit, get him to encourage it again. They need to say something, something has to be said. The only problem is Keith’s just not sure when to start or when to start over. That part hasn’t really been built up enough for him to really get a grasp upon, and little by little pieces of the confidence to confront and put an end to it are treading off in strips.

He wishes things weren’t this hard to do. To talk to people like this.  
People are complicated, and Lance so far as his actions have shown, is an enigma. 

So nothing happens and Keith hears someone call them to the desk. The man behind the counter informs them of his bike and points them to a door in the right side of the wall leading into the garage. 

The noise of the area picks up after they’ve already entered, stacks of bikes and gears and the slick spills of oil splattered over the paved ductile concrete is all that Keith sees when lead in, examining the wall and the clutter of the workshop.

Lance hangs back a little as one of the men that lead Keith to his bike, takes him to a corner of the shop where a largely red fixed up motorbike awaits him by one of the corners near a bike rack. The shine of its headlights gleaming and the seats put together with a new set of cushion fabric after the first ones had been kinda torn and worn down. The moment Keith gets a look at it, his eyes light up and a cracked smile comes across his face. 

“There it is, all nice and pretty and fixed up for ya.” The man says, stepping away from Keith and the bike, hands held to his hips with a nod. “ We had to find some of the good stuff for your headlights since it seem like one of the two were burned out. So we settled with replacing it with a good one, and did the same with other as a extra. It wasn’t corroded or anything which is a good thing and should perform exceptionally well now it you plan on riding during the night.” 

“ Nice.” Keith comments, getting up close to put a hand to side and run his fingers over the exterior. The feeling is slick and smooth against the tips. In short the bike looks great, and he can’t stop smiling, a sorta soft but tanged feeling of contentment falls over him as overlook every inch of Red. 

The man nods again and begins to leave the two to the bike as he walks back out to the waiting space. Lance, who’s now already starting walking towards Keith, takes notice of the expression on Keith’s face. His own morphing into a vague look of surprise and muddle. 

“ Is this it?” He asks Keith, holding one of the straps of his backpack in one hand as he watches them closely. 

“ Yeah this is it.” Keith moves to stand, putting his hand over the soft cushions of his bike seat. He takes a moment to turn and pass a glance to Lance, the smile still present. “ This is her. Meet Red.” 

“ Red?” Lance repeats, the tone in his voice sounding baffled at the name, he eyes the bike again. Makes sense considering the bike is already red. Shiny too. 

“ Yep. I got her for a birthday over in New York, a surprise gift actually. She was good, fast, and efficient.” He pats the surface of the seat, a short smile present to his lips as he turns to Red again. “ best piece of transportation I’ve ever had.”

Lance looks to Keith, and notices the smile, for some reason he can’t at the moment explicitly explain, seeing that smile pop up and curve Keith’s lips the way where the ends meet and crease against his cheek adds a tang of amative sensation to his chest. Something that shouldn’t be there. He chooses to shake it off, but imitate the expression with a softer look, coming closer. 

“ Well she is pretty nice.” He says, looking over the headlights and the wheels. It surprises him somehow that Keith didn’t bother to add any decals to her. Maybe something like lightning bolts to her sides or flames.. That seemed like Keith’s style. “ And...pretty cool.”

At the comment, Keith look over to Lance. “ Thanks, this bike is kinda special, even though I’ve only had it for such a short amount of time. I’ve had some good runs on her.”

“ Two years isn’t exactly a short amount of time.” Lance inputs, his smile picking up in amplitude. 

“Yeah well, it is when time flies so quick, you don’t even notice.” Keith feels the pressure of his fingers tug in deep into the fabric, letting his eyes dwell elsewhere he sits back in his head with a smaller version of himself prodding him with a stick as a way to get him try and do what he’s been wanting to since they’ve started this walk to the workshop. 

The timing just doesn’t seem right again, and he hesitates troubled as Lance moves in closer towards the bike. “ Can I touch it?” 

Keith blinks up. “ Huh?”

Lance moves a hand upward, indicating his intrigue as he looks over to Keith expectantly. “ Can I touch her, like touch Red?”

It takes Keith about a half of a second to answer back, nodding his head and making space from the cushion for Lance to take a shot at getting a feel for his bike. He watches as Lance moves his hand over the sides and push over towards the handles, passing over the grips and aim downwards towards the cushion. 

All the while Keith watches Lance’s face takes change, watching the way their hands move and the way they seem to nod and smile off to themselves like they want to make another comment, but don’t and just continue to get a feel for the bike until their hand stops just a short space from Keith’s on the cushioned seat. 

“ She’s real nice Keith..” Lance murmurs, looking up to catch their eyes and suddenly Keith just stops. 

Stops thinking, stops choosing his words. His mouth moves to close, but doesn’t completely and the pull of fabric between his fingernails and palm feels scratchy and awkward. Sometime in between the silence, his thoughts tousle in a quick tug-a-war between picking this opportune moment and settling for another time, it’s confusing and all at once hard to puzzle together. He wonders if even smart to.

_They’re doing so well so far…_

 

Keith bites his lip and looks down. The his fingers scrap a piece of the seat as he breathes out a soft cloud of air out from the inside his chest. “Lance… I.--”

“ Excuse me gentlemen, have you checked out the bike enough?” An employee speaks as they walk back into the room, a clipboard cupped between on arm as they eye the two standing meekly next to each other. “ We planned on taking it outside and having you pay the amount at the counter so as to have you ready to take it home soon.”

The two boys jump, almost immediate but Lance is quicker to recover than Keith, turning his head swiftly as his hand pulls back. “ Uh, yeah actually we are done looking at it. The bike looks great, looks to be in tip top shape. I don’t see anything wrong with it.” He gives Keith a quick glance, sorta nodding. “ Right? We’re good to go now?”

 

Keith leans back against the bike, turning to return the nodding look to Lance, then press his gaze towards the worker. “ I.. Yeah, we’re good. She’s perfect.”

The worker nods, tearing a slip from the clipboard they hold before walking over. “Which one of you is the owner?”

Keith raise his hand. “ That would be me.”

The slip is handed to him and he’s soon told to take it back with him to the counter to pay, while the bike is brought out to the front of the garage where it’ll wait out till they’re done and they can go home.

It’s not a lengthy transaction, as Keith doesn’t waste time getting back to the waiting space counter with Lance in tow and he pays up what’s left from his pouch before receiving the receipt, ready to leave. Lance hangs around by the door, and the both of them go outside as the bike is pushed out by a mechanic. 

When they’re finally left alone and the mechanic gives them a thumbs up on the job before retreating back to the garage. Lance takes a quick moment to pull out his phone as it buzzes against his pants pocket. “ Hunk’s home, guess we’re all set to head back now.” He taps something then turns to Keith standing by the side of his bike. “ You ready?” 

“ Hold on.” Keith mutters once. His confidence in asking simply arising at the moment. “ I have.. something I want to talk about.”

Lance’s fingers stop on a single press as he looks up to Keith questionably. The look on their face is almost enough for Keith to not to want to say anything at all and give up then and there but he goes forward with it anyways, he thinks they’ve stalled enough at this point. 

“ I want to talk about the incident in the car.” Keith starts, and he he just see the expression on Lance tighten up at the mere mention. “ I want to get that out there before we go any further with this… whatever this is I guess? I don’t really have a word for it right now but I think maybe we should talk about this.”

And Lance squints, the tip of his tongue sticking to the side of his cheek as it clicks and he looks back to his phone. “ Why do you think we should talk about this?” 

“ Because it’s been two days and we’ve been pushing away from each other ever since. I’ve been giving you space, you to me as well. But it’s seems like we’re not getting anywhere just by not talking to each other you know?” He gets off from the side of his bike, standing up more as he does. “ I feel like we should fix this…”

“ We seem to be doing just fine in my opinion..” Lance mutters, his eyes dwindling back to the phone at hand. “ The only reason we were giving each other space was because we didn’t want to confront each other. That’s it, and frankly you didn’t seem like you had much to say anyways so we all just went along with the silent treatment and cold shoulders.”

 _Yeah and look how fast that lasted_ Keith thinks, his arms come over his cross his chest, this time leaning back more against the build of his bike. He had a feeling things would pan out this way but with less reaction from Lance. They don’t seem to be all that in the mood for it, but at least they’re talking, and that’s what Keith really wanted. A small simple talk. 

If only he could really call it that. 

“ So how do you really feel about it then?” Keith finally asks, the more important question he thinks.  
And he can see how very physically fast Lance hesitates with the answer. 

_What do you think it is?_  
_I don’t know._

“ It’s over with.” Lance begins, “It happened, it’s happened and there’s nothing that can change that. We can’t time travel back and change things for the better, it just happens and it sucks. I don’t really think this is the time to really bring it up right now, but.. If you want the truth then fine. I’m not over it--- well I kinda am a little but just.. to some extent. Not fully over it but to some extent I’m…” He stops, looks at the ground. A scruff of his sneakers scraps over the a few stray pebbles. The silence capturing them in a drift. “ It’s all somewhere in between with you.” 

Lance doesn’t really seem like he’s in the mood for confrontation at all or more or less ready for it. But Keith understands, feeling a wave of sadness wash over him as he overlooks. “ You sounds like you don’t mean it.” 

And Keith wants to say _I’m sorry_ , he wants to say _I get it_ , and he wants to say _yeah it’s all the way somewhere in between with you too. I don’t know what we’re gonna do._

Lance looks back at him, a sorta vague look displaced to his features. It’s fine Keith, we don’t need to talk about it all right now. Besides it’s getting late and we should be heading back. Hunk’s waiting for us. Okay?”

Keith doesn’t even try to argue, pushing back off the bike to get ready for the ride back. As much as he wish for things to have taken a better turn of events than this, he doesn’t prod the conversation anymore than necessary. It can wait, it’s fine. “ Okay.”

Lance looks slightly relieved to see Keith back off, his shoulders slumping some as he comes towards them eyeing the bike oddly. “ So can two people ride this thing at once? Is it a two seater? Or will one of us ride and the other just takes the sidewalk.”

It’s a funny question, with an obvious answer to it but Keith humors Lance with a shrug. “Dunno, I’ve never had someone ride with me before so. Always a first for everything.”

“ Really? You never had someone ride with you? Never, not even once?”

“ Nope.” Keith starts to slide one of his legs over the other side of the bike, steadying himself. The grip over his bike handles feels like home in his hands and he can’t stop the smile that comes across his face at the shortest break. Eventually he takes time to look back behind him and spy the entire narrow share of space. “ Ah, actually you might be able to get on. There’s some space behind me, you can fit, get on, and we should be good to go.”

 

Lance’s eyes widen, stirring back. “ Wait, wait wait wait, behind you?! Like near the back of the bike? Is that safe?” 

Keith gives him a look. His arms having folded over the handles of both sides as he leans in a rather comedic manner if Lance has ever seen Keith in any fashion. “ Lance, It’s not that far back, it’s literally just a nice small little space behind me, which you can sit on, and you know lean onto to me for and hold on as we ride back. 

And I promise you, I’m a safe driver. I won’t let anything happen to you. Now could you please get on before the sun goes down. You did say it was about time we needed to leave right? Hunk’s waiting for us at home?”

He takes notice of the way Lance placates a skeptic look to his face, contemplating whether he should actually believe those words or not which Keith would roll his eyes if it wasn’t for the fact that on the inside he was equally as excited to have Lance ride along with him for the first time. He watches them think before Lance lets a sigh pull out from his chest as he approaches the bike, muttering something under his breath that Keith couldn’t catch in time as weight to his bike gains and he feels hands and legs squirm with uncomfortable nature against his back. 

“ Put your feet on the pegs, that’s where they go.” Keith instructs, One of his hands starts to squeeze the clutch, pressing the start button as the motor turns over and the engine fires up. Over the engine’s boisterous sound, he can hear Lance scoff, shuffling some as he positions himself. 

“ I know what to do Keith, you don’t gotta instruct me the whole way through.”

“ I thought you said you’ve never rode a motorcycle before.” 

That earns Keith a pause, before he hears Lance scoff again, less serious this time.

“ You know what, hush. I don’t wanna hear another peep out of you the whole ride back. Remind me to never tell you stuff like that again.”

And in reaction, Keith actually laughs, revving up before getting ready to take off. He gives Lance one more side way glance. “ You all set?”  
Lance with his backpack pulls closer to him, fumbles some to move his hands.” Hold on hold on, I gotta hang on to you first. I don’t wanna go flying off because you wanna go fast all of a sudden.”

“I already told you I’m a safe driver--.”

“ I’ll be the judge of that thank you..” Lance interjects, a pout pursing his lips as he takes notice of Keith’s soft smile. “ And where are our helmets?”

Keith starts to lean forward, glazing forward as the sun starts to spill hot over the horizon near the hills of buildings and corners over the road. “ Don’t have one right now. Haven’t bought any yet.”

“ What!?” Lance spills out before the bike began to move and they take at a speed that stops his train of thoughts and words and has him gripping the jacket of Keith as they tread out of the garage and into the road with swift and smooth enough direction. 

When it happens Keith is just in motion, the feeling of the wind pushing through his hair as he accelerates at a moderately faster speed makes the smile on his fast brighten ten fold as they ride down the street and past the intersection. It’s amazing, and he can’t feel anymore happier having his bike here with him now that he can ride with so much ease and will at his fingertips. The feeling of it is just so extraordinarily right. 

 

He feels pressure push into his back as he turns a corner a little too fast and glances through the rearview mirror of Lance pushing his head into the center of his back with their hands gripping onto him with such desperation Keith would have thought Lance was afraid of letting go for even just a second. At some point in their ride back, Keith must’ve took a wrong turn, because they end up riding a strip of a long road that leads outwards towards the college.  
Where the lake gleams in and the sun buries itself into the weight of its waters and the scene of is pretty enough that Keith sorta slow down enough to capture a full glimpse of it. 

It’s a nice atmosphere, the wind picking up little by little. He makes a quick glance to Lance. “ Hey Lance, take a look on your left..”

The wind must not be too choppy enough to not be heard over, because the weight in Keith’s back lets up a little, and Lance takes a look over at the gleaming lake The scene’s a mesmerizing feat, with the their hair fastening quick with the wind. Keith with all the mustered attention he could add to Lance’s most presence case of silence, spies the touch of a smile creeping onto their face as they capture every piece of the sun’s dipped shadow over the hillside and into the deepening waters as the skies bloom in shades of red and orange. It’s the one thing that catches Keith off the most, that subtle crack of his lips lifting and spreading a warmth across every inch of his face burns a feeling of something in Keith that he hasn’t felt in a long time, it’s familiar and boundless as when they were kids. And it’s filling up every brim of his being as the grip on his handles tightens as he takes a breath and feels Lance’s hands cradles his sides. The sensation of it is so overwhelming, Keith has to turn his attention from the rearview mirror to the road, speeding up and rolling to turn as they move past the college and pull fast towards home. 

 

He tries not to think too much of it when they finally do get home, the night creeping at their heels as they smoothly park their way by the curb and get off 

 

“ That was pretty wasn’t it?” Keith cuts over the air as he rolls off, turning off the engine and letting his bike lean on its side stand.

“ Yeah..” Lance breathes into the cloth of his jacket. Settling back into the same place. “ Real nice, makes me wish I had brought my camera…”

 

“And we didn’t get killed, so I guess that mean I proved you wrong about me being a terrible driver right?” Keith pulls away to move over to sidewalk, the thrill of his bike having taken him over for just a second as he tries to pull the rush out him bit by bit. It felt good, and he’ll admit it to himself, he’d love to do it again, maybe even take a longer trip just for the excitement.

Lance cracks a smile, snorting loudly. “ Sure sure, you past the test, we didn’t crash and we didn’t get hurt, I’d say that’s a plus for the both of us, because it could’ve been worse..”

Keith shakes his head, ignoring his own imitated smile creeping above the surface as they turn in for the night to the house. Hunk awaits by the porch, with his phone in his hand, idly tapping his fingers against the bench when they arrive in front of him. Upon seeing them, he perks up, a wide smile coming across his lips. 

“ Hey! There you two are!” He says, getting up to nab a hug out of Lance as he appears with open arms. “ I was starting to get a little worried there. Both of you weren’t home at the usual time so I assume something was up and tried to call you.” Lance gives a reassuring pat to Hunk’s shoulders, enjoying the hug as Hunk lets go and turns to Keith. 

“ I got your messages late, like right after class and all the times you called me which was a lot. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to come and help you get your bike buddy..” He opens up his arms again to walk closer and envelope Keith into the same deepening hug he gave to Lance. It’s awkward at first, because Keith is more than shocked by the gesture, but falls into it with with a short soft smile and reciprocates. “ Was everything okay? Did you get your bike on time?” Hunk asks 

 

“ Yeah I got it, don’t worry about it Hunk. I went in and took care of it already. “ Keith pulls away from the embrace, looking up at Hunk. “ Though if anyone should be sorry it should be me for leaving you all those calls and messages. I was overstepping there, I should have known you’d be busy.” 

“ And I helped out!” Lance chimes in with a sorta relevance to his voice as he speaks. “ I came in just in time to see Keith just chilling out on the steps when I came home early. I offered to go with him to get his bike, and seeing as though you weren’t here, well. Ha- who else would have done the job?” 

“ Really?!” Hunk turns to give a look to Lance that speaks a level of volume of _“What? And You did?”_ Lance can just see the questions burning holes into him, but he shakes it off and offered them a knowing look of _‘yeah that’s right’ And ‘and no we’re not gonna talk about it; not right now.’_ So Hunk keeps the weighted bemusement of it to himself and nods, smiling some.

“ Well I guess that’s good. It’s one last thing to worry about now for you huh Keith?” Hunk adds as they make for the screen door. “ Now with some transportation, you’ll be okay getting around.” 

Keith nods, “Yep, I’ve already gotten used to some of the routes, and we past up one from the college that’s pretty quick.”

“ I hope so. Oh! So did you two ride together? I noticed that Lance left his car here so I assumed that he walked somewhere and tried to give him a call. How was that?”

“ It was terrifying..” Lance states, dropping his bag by the stairs and making his way straight for the kitchen. “ I was gripping on for dear life. Almost thought we were gonna crash with the way speedy gonzales over there was going.”

“ I told you I was a safe driver!” Keith contends, stopping mid step from the stairs as he pokes his head out over the rail. “ You knew that because I told you twice and I proved you wrong! You had a good time on it!”

“Mmhm. Was that before we were going over 60 or after?” Lance half yells from his side of the kitchen, already searching through the confounds of the cabinets for a small snack. 

Keith rolls his eyes as Hunk laughs closing the door behind him. Getting ready to enter the kitchen himself. “ Do you guys want anything in particular? I have some leftovers from yesterday that are still good, but we’ve got other stuff sitting out in the freezer in case you don’t want that.”

At the question, Lance stops rummaging through the cereal boxes and fruit snacks to to poke his head from out of the cabinet. “ We got any pizza rolls left?”

“If you mean the ones that I bought week ago and still haven’t opened, then yes.” Hunk replies sliding past him to get to the sink. 

“ Awesome.” Lance pushes backwards from the cabinets, as he turns to head for the freezer. Stopping once to glance towards the hallway. “ Hey.. Keith! Are you gonna come in here and chow down too? Cause I’ll leave some stuff out if you’re hungry.” 

Keith, who's somewhat already made up the stairs hears Lance call out to him. It’s funny at first, because he doesn’t expect it and kinda jumps at the name, twisting around. “ Uh, no I’m good for right now. Um I’m gonna go chill out in my room for a little bit.”

 

Hunk calls out. “ You sure? We don’t wanna exclude you from shares if you’re feeling a little hungry.”

“Keith repeats. “No it’s fine, I’m good. You don’t need to leave anything out, I’m totally good for the night.” 

There’s a pause in between that lasts for a good minute before Keith hears a “ Suit yourself” from Lance and a “ I’ll save you something later!” from Hunk before he creeps backwards from the top of the stairs and breathes out a sigh. 

_They’re good people_ , he thinks to himself, and smiles some before walking back to his room to unwind and shift himself under the comfort of the soft sheets and pillows. 

Today as unexpected as it was, has taken a such a sharp turn of events he doesn’t even know where to begin with it. But it’s a nice one this time and despite his skepticism of it, is somewhat okay with the results. 

His hands puts his phone away on the charger, slipping into the sea of sheets as he processes that last bit of feeling he felt during their ride home. It was sudden but full of warmth and oddity, but it was something. 

And all at once it felt real and incantatory to be in that moment with them like the road was never there and it was just them together again like the many years beforehand before he took a plane ride out of state for good.

Well that last part isn’t exactly right anymore is it?

He’s here, and and really at the start of it all it almost felt like he never left at all. Which is weird at first glance because he knows he did, but the feeling of it, just that tad bit of feeling of leaving really never did. 

Thinking about it anymore doesn’t balance out the good reasons for the cause of it so much as the thoughts bring about the real unnecessary clutter of his already spiraling bemused mind as it is. But he’ll at least admit it to himself, if not to anyone else, that being with Lance there again on the bike was nice. And he wouldn’t mind doing it again. 

Maybe with Hunk,  
Maybe with Lance,  
Or hell maybe even both, but that part’s impractical since bike isn’t nearly that big enough to carry three. 

Nice sentiment though, he thinks.

He’s glad the night ended on an okay note.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a little bit of rebuilding of the Lance and Keith friendship  
> A little chapter for them, and the next one will be Hunk and Keith


End file.
